Management buyout could save Welsh Country Foods

Part of the Welsh Country Foods lamb processing business on Anglesey could be saved by a management buyout.

Eddie Ennis, director of the plant, is leading a bid to buy the business from Dutch food company Vion, which announced in November that it was selling its operations in Britain. The site handles 640,000 lambs a year.

Mr Ennis said any deal would just be for the slaughterhouse and boning department. This would only secure around 70 of the existing 350 jobs, but Mr Ennis would hope to rebuild the business over time. He has made a formal offer for the business and a decision is expected later this week.

Vion, which bought the plant in August 2008, had planned to close the site at Gaerwen unless a buyer could be found by April, when a 90-day consultation period ends.

A delegation is due in Cardiff on 11 March to discuss the future of Welsh Country Foods with business minister Edwina Hart. Jamie Pritchard of the Unite union welcomed news of the management buyout bid. “It is important the abattoir is retained,” he said.

It is understood the other interested buyers include another Dutch food firm and a halal meat company.

The Welsh Country Foods factory is the last Vion plant up for sale. The pork sites were sold in a management buyout in December last year, and the remaining red meat and poultry processing sites were bought by 2 Sisters Food Group earlier this month.

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