Pilgrim’s Ashton site will kill pigs for the last time on Friday, July 7, with existing operations transferring to the company’s abattoir and butchery facilities in Spalding and Westerleigh.
Pilgrim’s UK announced proposals to close the 70-year-old abattoir and butchery facility in Greater
Manchester, in May, leaving more than 500 members of staff potentially facing redundancy.
“Pilgrim’s UK has been working closely with the site team and customers to ensure we maintain quality and service levels throughout this process,” the company said.
The decision formed part of Pilgrim’s UK’s ongoing footprint review, as the business, which has struggled financially in recent years, aims to ensure the best structure for its long-term growth and development, while ‘mitigating the current unfavourable market conditions in the UK’.
The initial phase of Pilgrim’s UK’s footprint review included the closure of its Coalville site and the imminent closure of the Bury St Edmunds site, as well as the introduction of a four-day week at Ashton in September 2022.
While closure of the site would put all 542 Ashton staff, at all levels, at risk of redundancy, the proposals will create 90 additional roles split between Westerleigh, Spalding and Bromborough.
The Ashton site, one of the biggest pig processing plants in the UK, lost its China export licence in 2021, while the pig processing sector, as a whole, is having to address capacity as the size of the UK pig herd and therefore weekly pig throughputs decline. Other major UK pig processing sites are now reportedly operating on four-day weeks.
Operational footprint
Announcing the plan to close the site, Rachel Baldwin, Pilgrim’s UK’s vice president of human resources, said it had not been taken lightly and every effort had been made to explore alternative options.
“A key part of our work to return to growth includes ensuring we fully optimise our operational footprint and the age and location of Ashton within a densely populated area means that there is no feasible opportunity to modernise or grow the site,” she said.
“As a result, these proposals are unfortunately essential to ensure a sustainable future for our team members across the UK.”
The company said full support and guidance will be provided to anyone at risk of redundancy, including support in seeking alternative roles both inside and outside of the Pilgrim’s UK organisation.
Pilgrim’s UK reported losses of £16 million in 2021 and has also faced challenging financial circumstances in 2022.