Fresh poultry giant Faccenda has reassured staff there will not be any job losses or site closures as a result of its acquisition of turkey supplier Cranberry Foods.
The deal, announced earlier this week, creates a food manufacturing business with a combined turnover of about £400m. Financial details have not been disclosed.
Cranberry has about 750 employees working across sites in Scropton, Derbyshire and Abergavenny, while Faccenda employs 2,000 people in Brackley, Telford and Dudley.
A Faccenda spokesman said the Cranberry business was “highly complementary” to its own operations and staff from Cranberry would simply “transfer across”.
“There are no plans for redundancies or site closures,” he said.
Faccenda is a major supplier of fresh chicken. MD Andy Dawkins said there were “clear synergies” between it and Cranberry, meaning customers of both companies could “continue to enjoy an expert and trusted service, while allowing us to grow the scale and range of our products”.
Cranberry joint MD Andrew Lewins said the deal would usher in a “new era” for the company as Cranberry benefited from being part of a larger food business “that seeks to build on its existing strengths and successes”.
Lewins will remain with Cranberry alongside joint MD David Horn to oversee a “smooth transition”.
“Cranberry has quickly become one of two major turkey producers in the UK since we founded the company in 2003,” Horn said. “Our success has been built on a commitment to product quality, service and integrity – all of which we share with Faccenda.”
Despite the size of the deal, Faccenda said it did not expect the Office of Fair Trading to investigate.
“The combined business will have a turnover of £400m but the total UK poultry market is worth about £4bn,” a spokesman pointed out.
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