Hundreds of jobs are at risk at a Spalding food manufacturer

Bosses at Bakkavor have announced they are consulting with staff over plans to cut the number of jobs at one of its four food manufacturing plants.

The company has blamed a drop in demand for its move to make redundancies at the site in West Marsh Road.

The firm says it is “reviewing and reducing functional support roles” and the change affected about 500 people.

It says demand has fallen over the last year but has been made worse by the coronavirus outbreak.

The announcement has been met with dismay by union officials who are demanding meetings with management over the proposals they say will lead to the loss of 433 jobs.

Mick Orpin, regional officer for the Unite union, said: “This news is a bitter pill for the workers and their families, as well as for the wider Lincolnshire economy – our members face a period of deep uncertainty and worry as to how they will put food on the table for their families and pay their bills.

“As we start the 45 days consultation process we are going to ask to see - and also challenge - the management’s business rationale behind this decision as we are not convinced by its argument.

“We want to explore if Covid-19 is a being cynically used as an excuse for job cuts by a powerful international corporate.

“While some of the workforce have been furloughed and others have continued working, we believe that the company could have made much better use of the government’s job retention scheme (JRS) which was put in place precisely to retain as many jobs as possible.

“Unite is committed to supporting our members to the maximum during this grim time.”