Kerry Group has announced it will close its Kerry Foods factory in the UK town of Burton-on-Trent, which is in the midlands of England and not far from Birmingham. The move will lead to the loss of 900 jobs.
Kerry Foods manufactures prepared foods and ready meals at the plant. Production there will cease later this year. Kerry is closing the plant after it lost a key contract supplying Indian and oriental ready meals to UK supermarket giant Tesco in August last year.
It’s understood the Tesco contract accounted for over 75% of production at the plant.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Kerry Foods plant had supplied Tesco with ready meals for almost 20 years before the retailer switched to a new supplier. In recent years, Kerry has invested up to £20m (€22m) in its Burton facility.
With a significant proportion of its revenues generated in the UK market, Kerry Group is one of the most exposed Irish food companies to Brexit. Kerry has spent up to €30m realigning the structure of its UK business in the last two years in a bid to mitigate the impact when Brexit takes place. The company has divided its consumer foods business in the UK down the middle into two units – private label and branded.
Despite the challenges of Brexit, Kerry Group recently reiterated its profit forecast for its 2019 financial year that adjusted earnings will grow by 6% to 10%.
Register for free to read this story and our free stories.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
Kerry Group has announced it will close its Kerry Foods factory in the UK town of Burton-on-Trent, which is in the midlands of England and not far from Birmingham. The move will lead to the loss of 900 jobs.
Kerry Foods manufactures prepared foods and ready meals at the plant. Production there will cease later this year. Kerry is closing the plant after it lost a key contract supplying Indian and oriental ready meals to UK supermarket giant Tesco in August last year.
It’s understood the Tesco contract accounted for over 75% of production at the plant.
The Kerry Foods plant had supplied Tesco with ready meals for almost 20 years before the retailer switched to a new supplier. In recent years, Kerry has invested up to £20m (€22m) in its Burton facility.
With a significant proportion of its revenues generated in the UK market, Kerry Group is one of the most exposed Irish food companies to Brexit. Kerry has spent up to €30m realigning the structure of its UK business in the last two years in a bid to mitigate the impact when Brexit takes place. The company has divided its consumer foods business in the UK down the middle into two units – private label and branded.
Despite the challenges of Brexit, Kerry Group recently reiterated its profit forecast for its 2019 financial year that adjusted earnings will grow by 6% to 10%.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS