Wolverhampton firm Freshway to shut with loss of 200 jobs

Freshway Chilled Foods will shut after it failed to win a new contract to keep supplying sandwiches to The Foodservice Centre.

A total of 208 people work full time at the Freshway's site, on Stafford Road, and will continue to supply FSC until the contract ends in June.

Parent company Tulip said loss of the work meant it would be 'economically unsustainable' to keep the Wolverhampton site running.

A 45-day consultation has now begun involving Freshway, workers and union representatives.

Staff were told at a meeting today, described by a company spokesman as 'emotional'.

Many of the workforce have been at Freshway for decades. It had been a family business for nearly 65 years, when it was taken over by Parkham in 2009 after it went into administration.

Parkham, and Freshway, were then bought by foods group Tulip in 2012.

Kirsty Wilkins, Group HR Director for Tulip, said: "It is with great regret that Tulip Ltd announces formal consultation over a proposal to close Freshway Chilled Foods following the loss of core business with FSC after 18 successful years.

"The loss of the FSC business will result in a 50 per cent reduction in the site's turnover, making it economically unsustainable to maintain operations.

"Whilst we continue to explore ways in which we may be able to secure a future for the business we cannot see a viable alternative to closure at this point in time.

"A number of options are being discussed as part of the consultation process, including the possible redeployment of employees into alternative permanent roles at other Tulip sites. A review is also being carried out on whether spare capacity across various Tulip manufacturing sites may be utilised for the remaining business at the Freshway site."