Northern’s food factory closure put jobs at risk

May 14 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

THE future of more than 700 jobs at a factory which makes Italian ready meals for Marks & Spencer appears grim after Northern Foods said it would stop production there.

But Northern said that though it was mothballing its Fenland Foods site in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in August it was not looking to reduce numbers at its ready meals plant at Carlisle in Cumbria.

A 90-day consultation process began yesterday with the 730 workers at the Grantham site, which broke even after £45m of sales last financial year.

Northern Foods chief executive Stefan Barden said: “Our immediate task is to support our loyal employees through the consultation period.”

The closure decision follows a Marks & Spencer review of its supplier base. The factory was built for M&S in 1987.

Mr Barden said the site could remain mothballed for as long as three years while other opportunities were examined.

He said: “It’s a little bit tired. We would want to refurbish it if we were to do something else. Those are the discussions we want to start with other customers.

“Those discussions could take two to three years. It’s just unrealistic to keep the workforce on during that time period.”

Northern Foods, whose brands include Goodfellas Pizza and Fox’s biscuits, employs 11,000 people and has 22 operating sites in the UK and Ireland.

They include about 900 staff at its Carlisle plant, which produces own label chilled ready meals. A spokeswoman said yesterday’s announcement focused particularly on the Grantham site and the future of other factories had not been under discussion.

Northern has sought recently to bolster its fortunes by ditching lower-margin business and refocusing on faster-growing markets such as ready meals, sandwiches and salads and puddings.

Last year, the company sold its speciality bread, chilled pastry, cakes and flour mill operations as it looked to focus on key brands as part of a drive to improve performance.

Trade with Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco represents 76% of total revenues for the group.