Medina Dairy plans to close Tyneside site

The Blaydon depot hit the headlines in January 2010, when (as the former Dairy Farmers of Britain site) it was taken over by Medina Dairy; it originally closed in June 2009 with 300 job losses.

Howvever, the company said that a review of site profitability had led to its decision to transfer production to another depot in Huddersfield.

Spare capacity​

A company statement said: "Medina currently processes at two facilities in the North of England which both have spare capacity. ​

"Having reviewed the total processing capacity and the profitability of both sites we have decided to propose the closure of the Blaydon facility and the transfer of all volume into our site in Huddersfield. ​

"We acknowledge that this will be a bitter blow for our employees in the North East, but at the same time we have to recognise that this will further strengthen the Medina Group moving forward."​"

Damage limitation​​

Labour MP for Blaydon Dave Anderson said the focus was now on "damage limitation",​ as he seeks to help workers at the site find new jobs: "This is a big blow, following the very positive strides that Medina had made in re-opening the dairy. I have spoken to the people at the dairy and I will work closely with all concerned to try to limit the damage to the workforce and to our local economy. ​

"I will be asking the Department for Work and Pensions, Job Centre Plus and the local authority to set up a rapid response to help find alternative employment opportunities."​

Medina also announced plans to refresh its Watsons brand off milk, eggs and other dairy products in the coming months. The firm claims to be the largest independent dairy business in the UK and the fourth largest overall; it has a third processing site in Wickham, Hampshire.

The dairy business also has a UK distribution network of 30 depots, providing milk and cream products to customers in Northeast England, and down to Yorkshire and Lancashire.