PM sets date for Bendicks closure meeting
Brine secured the meeting after raising Bendicks’ plight with David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQs) last week, after the firm’s German owner Storck announced the start of a 30-day consultation with 115 staff on March 4.
Media spotlight
The Conservative MP told FoodManufacture.co.uk that his main aim was to keep the media spotlight on Bendicks – which has a royal charter and produces Bittermints – and make it clear to Storck that the country wishes them to stay in Winnall, Winchester.
“At the end of the day the government isn’t going to step in and give public money to a private company, but I want to make the business case for Winchester,” he said.
Brine said he wanted to emphasise to Storck that it should not act hastily in cutting ties with the UK and jeopardising jobs at Bendick’s site, which is also Storck’s UK headquarters; the firm wishes to relocate production to East Germany.
UK firms relocating
Asked if he believed anything material would come out of the meeting, Dominic Hiscock, Winchester City Council economic regeneration spokesman said:
“I honestly don’t know. I’m keeping an open mind about it, although I am glad that the conversation will be taking place. Although it must be said that talking didn’t stop what happened with Twinings or Cadbury [when UK manufacturing sites were closed and jobs moved abroad] We’ll see what happens.”
Hiscock added that Winchester City Council had also written to Bendicks last Thursday to request a separate meeting.
After-dinner mint slump
Brine said UK md Thomas Huber told workers last week how the firm was performing and why changes could be coming.
The MP subsequently met Huber last Monday and said afterwards that he was informed that Storck had been subsidising Bendicks as a loss-making business for a number of years.
Afterwards Brine said in a statement:“The company took me through their predicament and the slump in the after-dinner mint market here in the UK.
"I am obviously really disappointed to hear a move away from Winchester is even being considered by Storck and I know the news of a consultation came as quite a shock to employees.”
The MP said this morning:“Some non-specialist journalists have gently mocked me for talking about this slump, but it is a serious issue: there’s been a drop in sales and year-on-year yield.”
Positive future
He added that he was positive about the future for the site – whether or not Storck decided to stay in Winchester: “We’ve garnered a lot of publicity on the back of PMQs, and – I’ll say this much – I have had quite a lot of enquiries from people wanting to find out more, or wishing to speak with people at the firm [Storck].”
At PMQs last week Cameron responded to Brine’s request to arrange a meeting thus: “I will certainly do that. My Honourable Friend is right to speak up for his constituency and for that business. [W]e will …take … steps to ensure that we encourage companies to stay here, come here and invest here.”
