Tulip meat facility closure threatens 118 jobs
Tulip has announced it has entered into consultation with employees and their representatives over proposals that could result in 118 redundancies at its cooked meats facility in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
Steve Francis.
The site is currently employing 750 people and according to Tulip’s newly appointed chief executive, Steve Francis, it has suffered from a significant fall in production volumes and continues to make a loss on a weekly basis.
The group has begun a 45-day consultation, during which the business will engage closely with the employee representatives and those affected “in order to minimise impact on people’s lives”.
Francis added: “We are looking to take steps which will keep the site operational for current and future generations in order to preserve the skills and crafts of producing good quality cooked meats, which means difficult and unavoidable decisions will need to be made.”
The site is also proposing to revert to a five-day working week from its current seven-day operation, as it seeks to mitigate a fall in production volumes and operational inefficiencies.
News of the potential closure comes after Tulip reported a loss of around £22 million for the year ending September 2016 and has put a business-wide turnaround programme led by Francis.
The group has only just achieved weekly profit in recent weeks.
Francis commented: “The business is now entering into the next phase of its strategy, which is focused on the optimisation and competitiveness of our network of sites across the UK, ensuring we are able to achieve sustained growth while remaining strategically aligned with our core customers.”
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