More than 200 jobs will go at Burton’s Foods’ Moreton site following the announcement it is to shut down the biscuit site.

The firm said it will retain its chocolate refinery at Moreton and the jobs of 60 employees, and plans to invest £2.8m of capital investment in the plant. However, 219 jobs will go as a result of the closure of the rest of the factory in Wirral.

Months of extensive negotiations have taken place between Burton’s Foods and Unite the Union, with Unite stating it believed it got “the best possible outcome for our members in terms of sustainable jobs and enhanced terms for those being made redundant”.

The deal between Burton’s and Unite will also see 58 possible Tupe transfers, attached to the production of seasonal assortments biscuits at the Moreton site, transferred to Burton’s new plant in Liverpool.

“The plan to invest £2.8m of capital investment into the plant will future-proof job security for as long as can reasonably be expected,” said Unite regional officer Ritchie James.

“However, it is disappointing and upsetting that we have not succeeded in saving the whole site and the 219 jobs that will be lost.”

Earlier this year, Burton’s blamed “an increasingly challenging and competitive environment with industry over-capacity and high commodity cost inflation” for its decision, which it said formed part of a new £25m three-year capital spending programme to build production capabilities at its manufacturing sites in Edinburgh and Llantarnam, South Wales.

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