Vion to Axe 820 Jobs in UK

The Cambuslang job cuts follow the loss of business supplying food products to supermarket giant Marks & Spencer, while the other losses are as a result of plans to restructure the firm's abattoir and sliced cooked meats operations.

21/01/09 Dutch-owned Vion is set to cut 820 jobs in the UK as part of its restructuring plans. Vion has announced that 470 jobs will be lost at its Haverhill site in Suffolk, 200 at Malton in North Yorkshire and 150 at Cambuslang in Scotland.

The Cambuslang job cuts follow the loss of business supplying food products to supermarket giant Marks & Spencer, while the other losses are as a result of plans to restructure the firm's abattoir and sliced cooked meats operations.

Vion said it planned to close its abattoir, butchery and parts of its retail operations at Haverhill and transfer them to Malton. At the same time, all cooked meat production will move from Malton to Haverhill.

Vion said it had been conducting an extensive review of its operations in the UK, against a backdrop of a very competitive marketplace and over-capacity within the UK meat sector.

The company said it planned to focus resources to create "centres of excellence" which will be better placed to meet the demands from the market and optimise production efficiencies. Vion said that it was operating against a backdrop of a competitive marketplace and overcapacity in the meat sector in Britain.
Alasdair Cox, director of corporate affairs, said: "Due to increasingly competitive pressures from the marketplace, we must continually look to optimising our production facilities to ensure sound foundations for the development of our UK business. In creating dedicated facilities at Malton and Haverhill, we will also be investing in both plants to build the business.

Cox said: “We regret the need for these changes in our activities announced and have informed our employees and their union representatives of our commitment to consult with them.”