UPDATE: UK: 2 Sisters cools prospect of more job cuts

By: just-food.com | 7 August 2009

UK poultry supplier 2 Sisters Food Group said today (7 August) that it does not expect to make any more job cuts as the company revamps its operations to meet changing consumer demand.

Up to 95 employees at a 2 Sisters site in Devon could face the axe after the group said it would restructure its Willand facility. News of those cuts come just weeks after 2 Sisters revealed it would cut jobs at its Letham plant.

A spokesman for 2 Sisters told just-food that there were no more redundancies in the pipeline but he could not definitively rule out further cuts in the future.

"We don't expect there would be further redundancies in the future. However, it remains very difficult to guarantee this given the current uncertain economic climate," he said.

2 Sisters, which has 13 manufacturing plants in the UK, has blamed "poor demand" for seasonal BBQ products for plans to axe jobs at its Willand facility.

However, 2 Sisters said it has spent over GBP4m (US$6.7m) in the facility over the last 18 months and added that Willand would become a "centre of excellence" for "specialist" chicken.

The spokesman added that no decision had been made on the future of the 2 Sisters site in Morecambe, which was damaged by fire in June.

Sectors: Meat & poultry, Seafood