Kerry to axe 320 staff at Hartlepool plant
The move is being blamed on a rise in consumer angst over the perceived nutritional quality of chilled ready meals.
13/03/06 Kerry Foods is set to axe 320 staff at its Hartlepool plant in the North of England, blaming the move on a rise in consumer angst over the perceived nutritional quality of chilled ready meals.
According to a report in The Sunday Times, Kerry bought the plant out of administration from the collapsed Hibernia Foods and invested 6 million euros in upgrading it.
A skeleton staff of about a dozen workers will remain at the site which produced chilled ready meals, while a further 50 are expected to be redeployed to Kerry’s nearby Durham plant.
Kerry said that it expected the market to pick up again with the development of a new line of “long-life” chilled ready-meals, and that it would be in a position to re-employ some of its workers if growth were to re-emerge.
