ForFarmers UK plans to close its site in Crewe, England, in the final quarter of 2019.
This is in line with ForFarmers N.V.’s efficiency plans as announced this year. In the proposals, the feed volume that is currently manufactured by the Crewe mill is to be transferred to ForFarmers’ facilities in nearby Newcastle under Lyme, Selby and Preston. The proposed closure of the Crewe site is subject to the required consultation with impacted employees. This consultation will include employees at the Newcastle under Lyme site, due to possible changes in its operating structure. The consultation process has begun.
This year ForFarmers N.V. announced its efficiency plans to decrease the group operating costs by EUR10 million (US$11.2 million) in 2021, versus 2018. These plans include its intention to rationalize the supply chain in terms of modernizing existing mills and in its footprint of site locations.
ForFarmers UK operates 14 manufacturing sites (production and blending mills). ForFarmers UK now sees an opportunity to transfer the feed volumes produced in Crewe to the nearby Newcastle under Lyme mill along with Selby and Preston where sufficient manufacturing and logistics capacity exists. This will improve overall network utilization and allow optimization of overall supply costs. During the process of transferring the manufacturing from the Crewe site, the priority remains to maintain and improve customer satisfaction by consistently delivering good quality feed and excellent service performance. No decision has been made on the future of the mill in Crewe.
The proposed transfer plans would include approximately 23 redundancies. A dedicated project team has been deployed to ensure a seamless transition and execute a full and fair consultation process.