Warburtons is planning to stop producing bread at its Stockton-on-Tees site as a result of the declining wrapped bread market.
The site will continue to produce crumpets under the proposals, which will include 33 compulsory redundancies. A further 60 people will be impacted by the consultation but Warburtons said it will be working to minimise redundancies and find alternative roles in the business.
The news follows Warburtons stating last month that its revenues had been largely held up by growth in its non-bread lines, with the company reporting a 0.3% drop in overall sales to £524.7m in the year ended 31 September 2017. Operating profit fell 36.7% to £22.4m, while profit before tax fell 40% to £34.6m.
At the time it said continued decline in its core market had been compounded by increased input costs.
In a statement issued this week, Warburtons said: “As a result of an increasingly challenging retail market and falling bread volumes, we have taken the difficult decision to enter into a 30-day consultation that could impact a number of jobs at our Stockton bakery.”
It added that no decision would be made until the consultation was complete, and that it was supporting everyone affected at this “very difficult time”.
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