2 Sisters: Scandal hit chicken plant in West Bromwich to restart production
The scandal-hit chicken processing factory in West Bromwich is to restart production this week, owner 2 Sisters has revealed.
The company says there will be increased oversight of the 850-strong workforce which has been undergoing retraining in the wake of revelations over hygiene breaches at the Dial Lane site
The company says staff from the Food Standards Agency will now be on the site "at all times" and CCTV coverage of operations inside the factory have been extended and will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It comes as the company prepares to reveal its full-year figures tomorrow.
The scandal saw 2 Sisters's boss and founder, billionaire Ranjit Singh Boparan, appearing before a Parliamentary committee last month as part of an inquiry into the failings.
The 2 Sisters site D base in West Bromwich temporarily ceased production in October after undercover filming revealed poor hygiene standards, altered food safety records and workers changing food date labels at the site.
At the hearing Mr Boparan apologised for the alleged breaches and told members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) that he was 'committed to improving food safety'.
In a statement 2 Sisters said: "We can confirm that following comprehensive retraining sessions with all colleagues during October, we are restarting production at our site D facility in West Bromwich (w/c November 6).
"This will be phased over the coming weeks, working closely with our customers in the process.
"We would like to thank our colleagues at the site who have acted with understanding and professionalism during this unsettling period."
The company is the biggest single supplier of chicken to the UK's supermarket industry and following the revelations customers had suspended their deals to take poultry from the West Bromwich plant.
But Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Aldi have now said they are happy with the action taken by the company and will be resuming their supply deals.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “Following the re-training programme carried out by 2 Sisters at its West Bromwich site, we can confirm we will begin to receive orders from the site again in the coming days.
“We are satisfied the issues have been addressed and work will now be carried out to our high production standards. We’ll continue to work with 2 Sisters and the FSA as the site gets back up and running.”
And a spokesperson for M&S said: “We have assessed the changes made at the site by 2 Sisters and are confident it can meet our high production standards. We will work closely with the site’s management team and the FSA in the coming weeks.”
An Aldi spokesperson said: “As a result of the remedial measures 2 Sisters Food Group have put in place we are satisfied that all issues have been resolved.”
