A swathe of redundancies has hit the fresh produce industry as pressure in the market intensifies.
Demonstrations and petitions preceded the news of 179 job losses at Bakkavör’s Bourne Prepared Produce (BPP) site while Produce World subsidiary Marshall Bros (Butterwick) is in the midst of a 30-day consultation period on redundancies.
On Monday, Bakkavör announced 144 of its hourly paid staff have opted to take voluntary redundancy while 35 salaried staff were subject to “mainly compulsory” redundancy. In September, Bakkavör had said 375 jobs could be lost.
The decision followed a 90-day consultation period which featured a demonstration in Spalding in December and a petition with “several thousand” signatures, brought by Unite.
After negotiations, hourly paid staff gained concessions including no reduction in pay rates for any existing permanent workers; starter rates will increase to existing permanent rates within two years and an enhanced redundancy scheme has been agreed.
Bakkavör said: “Our aim has been to sustain the business in the long term against some difficult trading conditions in the food sector and we are grateful to our staff for their continued patience and understanding.”
Steve Nesbitt, a Unite organiser, told FPJ that, while the union is disappointed at the job losses, it is pleased with the concessions.
He said: “We welcome the move that [Bakkavör] have made to move from the original proposals. The fact we have moved to no compulsory redundancies for hourly paid staff is very good.
“We did not believe the financial reasons for the decision having thoroughly studied their books. We would have liked them to have gone further, although ensuring paid breaks and improvement to holiday entitlement were good.”
Nesbitt called on Bakkavör to be “stronger” with supermarkets to prevent pressure on staffing. “The seasonality of the market in fresh produce and pressure from the supermarkets is a big factor. Bakkavör is a huge company and needs to be stronger, supermarkets are frightening suppliers meaning they are tempted to use agency staff and cut costs on staff as margins are so tight,” he said.
At Marshalls, staff were informed of possible redundancies on 5 January and, while the company could not confirm the number, a source claimed it is between 15 and 40. The business, which was bought by Produce World in November 2007, has 330 staff as well as 250 casual, seasonal agency staff.
In its latest accounts, covering 28 June 2008 to 26 June 2009, Marshalls’ turnover was £81.4 million. In the 18 months to 27 June 2008 it was £113.2m.
Marshalls said: “The proposed cost improvement programme to be implemented across the business is designed to simplify many of the processes and procedures currently in use. This should result in... a greater proportion of current volume moving to field packing and more direct delivery.
Interim Marshalls MD Keith Pringle said: “We are still in the middle of the consultation process and so we have no figures at present. The final number [of redundancies], however, will not be large. Market conditions are challenging for everyone at the moment. We want to ensure that Marshalls is in the strongest position by making our supply chain more efficient. We believe [the decision] will offer Marshalls’ customers a more efficient supply chain and better customer service.”
One source described Pringle, who was appointed at Bernard Matthews as a turnaround director, as a “turnaround expert”.
No comments yet