Morrisons to shut down fruit-packing plant in its home city of Bradford putting 450 jobs on the line
Morrisons is shutting down a fruit- packing plant in its home city of Bradford – putting 450 jobs on the line.
In yet another setback since its takeover by private equity, the debt-laden supermarket giant announced plans to close its operations in Cutler Heights.
It will mark the end of the road for the site – Morrisons’ first ever fruit-packing plant – and hit jobs in the city where the company started life as a market stall selling eggs and butter in 1899.
Operations will be shifted to Thrapston in Northamptonshire and Wakefield, West Yorkshire, with the creation of 400 jobs.
The announcement came as the company fights to cut costs following its takeover by private equity giant Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021.
Job losses: Morrisons is shutting down its Bradford-based fruit-packing plant as it struggles to cut costs in the wake of its debt-fuelled private equity takeover
And it follows a report by the competition watchdog that lambasts supermarkets over sky-high petrol prices – with the industry accused of using motorists as ‘cash cows’.
A Morrisons spokesman said: ‘Recent investments in the Thrapston site has created more capacity which has made consolidation of the two sites possible.
‘Regrettably, the proposal to consolidate two sites means that there are 456 colleagues at Cutler Heights who are at risk of redundancy.
‘We will do everything we can to employ those colleagues in other Morrisons manufacturing, logistics and retail sites in the local area.’
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