£1.1M loss casts shadow over Minsterley site

Last month's news that Uniq's Minsterley desserts plant in Shropshire lost a further £1.1M over the past six months has raised further questions about the troubled facility's future viability.

Once the dust has settled on chilled foods group Greencore's acquisition of Uniq, the future of Minsterley is likely to become clearer.

Minsterley has already lost around 500 jobs following a restructuring of Uniq's operations. And with the facility set to withdraw from the production of everyday desserts to concentrate on premium products, City commentators continue to question its long-term viability and the prospects for the factory's 100 remaining staff who are rattling around in a site that is too large for its current needs.

The facility can possibly be given a future with investment under Greencore's ownership. Sources have suggested that this is necessary to bring the plant up to the latest production standards. But, that's a big if, especially in this uncertain economic environment.

In its final half-year trading statement, Uniq announced: "Positive progress was made in the sales of premium desserts, reflecting the more favourable market dynamics of this sub-sector, while the sales of Cadbury chocolate desserts were flat.

The loss of £1.1M from desserts compared with a £1.8M loss for the same period in 2010.