Pork processing company Tulip has announced they are going to axe 170 jobs at their Cornwall facility.
The site in Bodmin will have to let the workers go as they face difficult times ahead.
Collective consultation
An announcement from Tulip states that they have entered into what they call a “period of collective consultation” with employees and their representatives in Bodmin. They are going to have to get rid of the 170 food jobs at the site as a “result of a significant fall in production volumes at the site due to loss of business”.
The company is part of the Danish Crown Group, a global meat processing company which is one of the largest in the industry. After they finish the collective consultation process, they will begin going into individual consultations with each of their employees who may be affected.
A spokesperson said: “Tulip Ltd has today entered into a period of collective consultation with employees and their representatives at its food manufacturing site in Bodmin, Cornwall. As a result of a significant fall in production volumes at the site due to loss of business, proposals are currently being considered by Tulip that could impact up to 170 roles. The collective consultation period will be followed by individual consultations with those directly impacted. We will work closely with our people at Bodmin to help to minimise the impact of today’s announcement where possible. Tulip Ltd remains in a strong position and the Bodmin facility is one of the finest food factories in the UK, with significant future potential to serve both Tulip and Danish Crown’s customers in the UK and across Europe. However, immediate focus will remain on supporting colleagues directly impacted by this announcement and supporting the future of the Bodmin site.”
Big changes
The choice to reduce the number of employees at the Bodmin site may cause you to consider that Tulip are in a bad way. Actually, their statement of a positive future may not be too far-fetched. In this case, it might be that they are thinking of moving their food production to another existing site, where they will commence the food recruitment process to replace the jobs that were lost elsewhere.
They had announced back in 2016 that they were going to move their cooked meat operations away from Bodmin and out to other sites, so this could be a sign that things are finally headed in that direction. They also laid off 430 workers at the Bodmin site in January 2016, as a result of supplier reviews, as they said at the time. This appears to be part of an emerging pattern; workers that do still retain their jobs at the Bodmin site might start to think about finding employment elsewhere. On the other hand, they may wish to hang on for the redundancy package which surely must be coming to all of them before too long.
It does not appear that the company is currently in any financial difficulty. In fact, they recently acquired a pig producer – Easey Holdings – in December 2017. That does not seem to be the work of a company that needs to lay off workers to keep going.
Their other sites, a total of 16, include locations in Bugle and Pool. Last year, they made 110 redundancies at the Pool Industrial Estate as a result of changing shift patterns, taking the operation from a 7-day week to a 5-day week. They are not afraid to make bold changes, it seems – which may be the reason why the company is still in business.
