Marks & Spencer will face protests on Thursday (29 May) over the end of ready-meals production at a site owned by its key supplier, Northern Foods.
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The demonstration, organised by the UK’s GMB union, will be staged outside the flagship M&S store at Marble Arch in London.
Northern announced its plans to end production at the Fenland Foods site in Grantham, Lincolnshire, earlier this month.
The UK food group decided to mothball the plant after failing to agree new terms on the contract with M&S. Some 700 jobs will be lost.
A spokesperson for the GMB said M&S is “squeezing suppliers”.
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By GlobalData“The site is a major local employer in an area where there isn’t much else,” the spokesperson said. “Fenland produced quality foods at a reasonable price.”
Northern’s decision came amid M&S’s drive to restructure its food business, dubbed “Project Genesis”.
Earlier this year, M&S launched a review to rationalise its food and drink supply base.
It is understood that the review includes an across-the-board 2% cut in prices paid to suppliers and an additional 1.5% marketing charge. M&S was unable to confirm this.
