Cornwall's loss-making Tulip Ltd meat factory has been saved from closure – but the firm will make a further 49 redundancies.
In late 2019 bosses at West Midlands-based Tulip Ltd said they were considering closing the plant in Bodmin, where 270 people had been employed, because it was losing £10million a year, unless a rescue deal could be obtained.
They axed 25 people in the cooked meats area of the site in December 2019.
But now it has revealed a recovery plan for the manufacturing site has been agreed, securing the future of the factory.
The agreement follows extensive discussions with site management, employee representatives and customers, and will involve several operational adjustments, the firm said.
But it stressed that changes to shift patterns and working arrangements will result in an extra 49 redundancies. Individual discussions will be taking place with those impacted.
It means 74 jobs will have been lost in total.
A company spokesman said: “It is always disappointing to have to lose people from our business, but we are satisfied that the improvements which have already been implemented at the site as a result of significant efforts of all parties, together with the additional changes which will now be actioned, will ensure a sustainable future for the site.
“Our ambition is to now deliver on the commitments which have been set out in our agreed recovery plan, continue with the process of continuous improvement for our day to day operations, and actively explore new growth opportunities.”
Tulip has 17 production facilities around the UK, including another at Pool in Cornwall and a HQ in Warwick, and in August 2019 was bought by Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation for £290million.
Tulip is the largest pig producer in the UK, with nearly £1billion in annual sales and more than 7,000 staff nationwide.
Tulip serves retail and foodservice customers and has an annual turnover of more than £1billion.
The loss of the Bodmin plant would have been a huge blow to Cornwall, which in 2019 lost Kensey Foods’ factory at Launceston.
The custard tart and desserts business, part of Samworth Brothers which owns Ginsters, employed 650 people at the 11-acre site at Pennygillam Industrial Estate.
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