Hundreds of jobs at risk at 2 Sister factory in Smethwick

The 2 Sisters Food Group has said it is considering plans to close its plant, based at Bevan Way in Smethwick.

The plant currently employs 630 people at Alpha Business Park.

If it does close, the food group said it would offer affected staff up to 200 roles in the West Midlands and look to redeploy others throughout the group.

The company, which employs around 1,500 in the West Midlands, supplies food to major supermarkets including Tesco and has plants in West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and Smethwick.

A spokesman for the company, which owns a number of food brands including Goodfella's Pizza and Fox's Biscuits, said: "We can confirm we are consulting with colleagues about a proposal to cease production at our poultry processing site in Smethwick and as a result the site could close.

"The factory at Bevan Way, Alpha Business Park, is ageing and has significant challenges to meet the standards required by ourselves and our customers.

"We do not take this decision lightly and fully understand the impact if this proposal goes ahead. This is why we will offer affected colleagues up to 200 roles currently at our West Midlands locations, which we will convert from agency to permanent roles.

"In addition, we will also seek redeployment of colleagues to our other sites in the West Midlands and the wider Group.

"We are committed to our operations in the West Midlands and will work hard to ensure all possible options for colleagues are fully explored before any final decisions are made."

The plant opened in 1996.

Last month more than 100 workers from the 2 Sisters Food Group protested outside Tesco in a row over employees' rights.

A demonstration was held by workers outside Tesco in West Bromwich's New Square shopping centre after Unite's acting national officer hit out at the management.

The union claimed that in the last two months new management has ‘unpicked many years of established and stable industrial relations’ at the five Unite-recognised plants across the Midlands.

The company, which employs around 1,500 in the West Midlands, supplies food to major supermarkets including Tesco and has plants in West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and Smethwick.

2 Sisters bosses responded stating that the allegations made against the firm, including claims that it used covert CCTV and audio recording equipment to spy on workers, were 'untrue' and 'misleading'.

Meanwhile the private office of Ranjit Singh Boparan, the founder and owner of 2 Sisters Food Group, also purchased turkey giant Bernard Matthews, which has also seen 69 chicken production and 59 managerial job losses confirmed.