Site locked, staff unpaid: fears mount over Longbenton Foods Amble factory

In early November we reported that production had restarted at the former Northumberland Foods frozen vegetable factory in Amble, Northumberland; 250 jobs were lost at the factory in August after the firm went into administration.

But northeast rival Longbenton Foods took over the site and re-employed 70 former staff; it also said it had signed supply contracts with local producers, while the firm hoped production lines would be running at maximum capacity by Christmas.

However, leader of Amble Town Council chairman Leslie Bilboe confirmed to FoodManufacture.co.uk that the site had been locked up since last Monday, and said that local workers were devastated. He also hit out at Longbenton Foods for “playing with people’s lives”​ by not releasing any information about the closure, or the site’s long-term future.

Firm wouldn’t talk to council​

“When they reopened the site back in November I was elated, but when I phoned them up to comment on firm intentions for the future they wouldn’t say anything even then,”​ said Bilboe.

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“Two people I know have been paid one fifth of their wages over the last month, and since they’re still employed – technically – they can’t sign on for social security.”​

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Bilboe said he and fellow councillor Robert Arckless were talking to Northumberland County Council in an attempt to get things moving, but stressed that “nobody really knows anything” ​about goings on at the company.

“My heart weeps for the workers here – especially at this difficult time of the year. There’s a lad who lives over the road from me who left a job at the local brickworks to work at the company when production restarted. Where does this leave him now?”​

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Site fee outstanding?​

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A Northumberland County Council spokesman declined to comment and referred the issue to administrator Begbies Traynor, who were not able to speak in-depth about the issue "because of an ongoing court case"​ with Longbenton Foods. The firm itself was not contactable by telephone this afternoon.

However, the Northumberland Gazette​ today quoted factory sources claiming that Begbies Traynor had obtained a court injunction to prevent site access due to non-payment of a substantial sum owed for the site; the paper said it believed the amount has now been paid.​

Before it was taken over by Longbenton Foods, Northumberland Foods made frozen vegetable products for clients including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Iceland.