Forres factory New World Foods to shut with loss of 36 jobs
New World Foods is due to close with the loss of 36 jobs in Forres.
The food factory on the Greshop Industrial Estate is set to shut its doors on April 30, with plans to move production south of the border to York and Wigan. Owned by parent company Valeo Foods UK, it makes meat snacks including Wild West beef jerky.
A Valeo spokesperson said: “Forres presents significant logistical challenges due to its remote location. These challenges have made it increasingly difficult to maintain cost efficiencies, which are crucial in today’s competitive market.
“The York site has the immediate capacity to handle current production volumes, and it is well-positioned to support both our short- and medium-term growth objectives.
“We assessed the capacity and demand for different products; the projected investment required across all sites, along with identifying operational improvement opportunities.
“As a result, the proposal was to cease operations at our meat snacks production facility in Forres, and transfer production to sister Valeo sites within the Meat Snacks Division.
“We conducted a collective consultation with all employees at the Forres site and no alternative solutions were found to mitigate this proposal.”
Valeo said it will work with a third-party specialist to try find alternate jobs for the staff at Forres New World Foods.
Kevin Moore, its CEO, added: “This closure is in no way a reflection on the dedicated efforts of the Forres team who have shown great commitment to improve the performance of the site in recent years.”
