Kerry Foods Plant in Durham Faces Closure with 350 Job Losses

The factory is one of Durham's largest private sector employers. The company said competition from rival manufacturers had forced it to consider transferring work to other UK plants.

30 Mar 2012 --- Irish-based Kerry Foods is planning to close a factory in Durham with the loss of up to 350 jobs.

The company said competition from rival manufacturers had forced it to consider transferring work to other UK plants.

The company is known for its Mattessons, Richmond and Wall's brands of sausages.

A spokesman for the union Usdaw said staff had been left "stunned" by the "absolutely disastrous" news.

In a statement the company said formal, 90-day consultation had started with the workforce, adding that the cut meat sector had become "highly competitive" in the past year.

It went on: "While we have made significant adjustments to our cost base and have sought to win new business, to date we have not identified a plan or a strategy to restore profitability to a sustainable level.

"Unless an alternative plan can be identified, we may have no option but to consider the closure of the Durham factory and transfer of production to other Kerry sites."

The factory is one of Durham's largest private sector employers.

Last year Kerry reported a trading profit of €501m for the 2011 period. Sales revenue increased by 6.9% from the previous year to €5.3 billion.

Commenting on the markets in the UK and Ireland as part of last year’s financial statement, Kerry Group Chief Executive Stan McCarthy signaled difficulty in these territories: “Kerry delivered good profitable growth in 2011 despite weak consumer confidence in many markets and significant raw material & input cost inflation.

“Cost recovery in the Group’s consumer foods markets in Ireland and the UK proved more challenging due to the prevailing economic situation and level of price promotional activity in both markets. However, while Kerry Foods saw a moderation in volume growth as the year progressed, profitability in the division was maintained due to on-going business efficiency programmes and successful innovation focused on value consumer offerings.”