A food company has said its facility in Lisnaskea is unaffected by plans to close its operation in Dungannon.
ABP yesterday announced it is to cease retail packing at its Linden facility based at Granville Industrial Estate in Dungannon. The company said the 338 people employed at the facility are now at risk of losing their jobs.
Linden Foods processes and manufactures beef, lamb, pork and chicken for branded and own label products.
ABP Linden Foods receives and processes cattle and sheep at a separate facility that is also located within Granville Industrial Estate, but these jobs are not impacted by yesterday’s announcement.
The company said its Lurgan and Newry sites and Kettyle Irish Foods in Lisnaskea are also not impacted.
ABP said they will seek to minimise the impact on those who are affected and this would include redeployment where possible.
Announcing the decision, a spokesperson said ABP continually reviews its processing footprint to ensure that it has the most efficient operational model aligned to trading conditions and market trends.
“Changes in the UK landscape have led to the difficult but necessary requirement to consolidate and reduce the number of its retail packing facilities situated within the UK including Northern Ireland.
The statement added: “Regrettably therefore it is our intention to cease retail packing at our ABP Linden retail packing facility based at Granville Industrial Estate in Dungannon.
“As a consequence, we have entered into a formal consultation process with 338 colleagues whose jobs are at risk. We will seek to minimise the impact on those who are affected. This would include redeployment where possible.”
The ABP statement said it had been a ‘very difficult step’.
“But we are facing a challenging and changing UK and global marketplace for beef and lamb. Stream-lining our operations is a necessity to achieve operational efficiencies, maintain our competitiveness and strengthen our business for the long term.
“We are providing support support to all colleagues at risk of redundancy within the ABP Linden retail packing facility. This will include exploring opportunities for redeployment or relocation.
“ABP UK remains committed to Northern Ireland’s agrifood sector. We continue to focus on developing future opportunities for the sale of Northern Irish beef and lamb within the UK and further afield.
“Our long-standing procurement partnerships with Northern Irish farmer suppliers is supported by continued investment in the future sustainability of beef and lamb production in Northern Ireland.”
