Premier Foods plc has warned that 200 jobs from its Brookes Avana own-label operations could be lost after the UK’s largest food maker lost a contract to supply Marks and Spencer.
The company’s RF Brookes unit in Leicester has lost a contract to supply pies to M&S after what a Premier spokesperson called a “competitive tender process”.
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The spokesperson said Premier had been able to “mitigate” the impact on the RF Brookes workforce and that the contract would transfer in two stages, first in September and then next July.
However, the spokesperson added: “Regrettably, this could lead to the loss of 200 jobs from the site which currently employs 720 people. Consultation with the workforce over these plans will begin immediately.”
The news is the latest blow for Premier’s Brookes-Avana operations, which saw profits slump in 2010 and has been touted as possible disposal candidate by analysts.
In February, Premier’s then CEO Robert Schofield said M&S represented over 90% of Brookes-Avana’s business. Schofield said Premier was having “quite significant conversations” with M&S over its contracts with Brookes-Avana and was “pleased with the progress” being made. Schofield also said Premier would look to diversify Brookes-Avana’s customer base.
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By GlobalDataThe spokesperson said today that M&S remained “an important customer” to RF Brookes and the unit was a “significant supplier” to the retailer.
