730 Jobs at 2 Sisters, Anglesey at Risk in Chicken Factory Closure

I found this dreadful news thanks to the BBC’s website, with analysis by their staff member Huw Thomas.

Poultry giant 2 Sisters Food Group, which produces a third of all poultry products eaten in the UK, said the site in Llangefni, Anglesey, was old and would require significant investment to bring it up to the same standard as its other locations.

The firm also said Llangefni was one of its smallest sites and products could be made more efficiently elsewhere. It added that it would speak with employees to explore the options before making final decisions on closure.

“Clearly this will be extremely disappointing news for our Llangefni colleagues, and it is no reflection of their continuing hard work and commitment,” a company statement said. “However, we have a duty to remain competitive and protect our wider business on which many thousands of people depend.”

In the statement, 2 Sisters said it had reviewed its UK poultry division to overcome “challenges facing to food manufacturing sector”. It described the Llangefni site, which it bought in 2013, as “not sustainable” and lacking space to be efficient, despite £5m being invested there. The cost to produce here is higher, and it would require significant investment to bring it up to the standards of our other factories,” it added. “Our products can be made more efficiently elsewhere across our estate. Therefore our proposal is to cease operations at the factory, putting the site at risk of closure.”

Ronald Kers, chief executive of 2 Sisters, warned in an interview with The Grocer in December about the challenges faced in the industry. The company’s last published accounts show it made a £95.5m loss to 31 July, 2021.

Ynys Mon MP Virginia Crosbie said the planned closure was “devastating news”. She added:

“I will be speaking to the unions very soon and I would support a task group being set up to help navigate what is happening and what could happen, if the factory closes. I am also meeting with the chancellor this morning and I will be raising what is happening on the island with him as a matter of urgency.”

Workers in Llangefni are bearing the brunt of the cost pressures hitting 2 Sisters.

The site on Anglesey did not have the capacity to be improved, the company said, which made it a target for closure as the owners looked for efficiencies. Some feared this was coming.

There was an “existential threat” facing the 2 Sisters business model in December, when the CEO Ronald Kers warned that it was being hit by rising costs and the bird flu outbreak.

Production costs had risen by 35% year on year and the firm had been losing tens of millions of pounds, but Mr Kers warned the “worst was yet to come”.

Staff in Llangefni are feeling the pain of the 2 Sisters plan to address the problem. But the island’s broader economy will also take a hit. While jobs are being lost at the poultry plant, local people have faced the bottleneck traffic of the closure of the Menai Bridge and the continuing uncertainty about whether a new nuclear power plant will be built at Wylfa.

2 Sisters workers need support in finding new jobs, but they’ll be doing so as many other businesses review their plans amid high inflation and a looming recession.

Kath comments: What a bombshell blow this is for those workers and latest figures say over 730 workers, who must have been worrying about this situation for quite some time. The factory has been in operation for fifty years and obviously such a huge employer on Anglesey. I’m just struggling to understand how the Ynys Mon MP Virginia Crosbie is able to help but I certainly hope that she can perform a massive miracle. My feeling is she might well be fighting a lost cause. With a £95.5m loss to 31 July, 2021, the company must be looking hard as to how they can reduce further losses and bring the company back on an even keel. I am struggling to find out where the £5million that was invested came from, or when – so more digging is in order I think.

This will hit so many families and Anglesey itself so hard.