Management job losses and an office closure are on the cards at Vitacress as part of a restructure of the group.
There will be a new management structure for the three Vitacress UK firms, Vitacress Salads, VHB and Wight Salads, and the closure of the Vitacress Head Office in Eastleigh, Hampshire.
The group expects to make around 25 managers redundant, and employee consultation has started.The businesses’ growing, packing and distribution centres will not be affected by the changes.
Toby Brinsmead, chief executive of Vitacress, a watercress supplier to major retailers, said: “The changes we are announcing will give us a simpler structure, closer to our customers, with more ability to invest in the future. We regret the redundancies we are planning to make and will do all we can to look after those people who are affected.”
Meanwhile, Vitacress has also confirmed that it will invest nearly £500,000 at its two watercress farms in Hampshire to meet tougher environmental standards.
The Vitacress move is in line with forthcoming requirements that the Environmental Agency will impose as it responds to concerns that phosphorous levels in the River Itchen are too high and are damaging the ecology.
The River Itchen is famous as one of the best examples of a chalk river in the world and enjoys the highest level of EU protection.
Watercress growers use phosphorus as a fertilizer and some of it is discharged into rivers.
Dr Steve Rothwell, of Vitacress, said: “We have been concerned for some time now about this problem and have funded research by the University of Southampton. As a result we fully support the new higher standards. We will have to invest heavily and change the way we farm to meet the new standards but it is the right thing to do.”
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