Faccenda: Dudley jobs unaffected by Telford plans
Through its Telford factory, the business portions and packs chicken for distribution to supermarkets or caterers. These are then dispatched to a Dudley plant for further processing and preparation, before returning to Telford for final packaging and delivery to commercial customers.
In its planning application submitted to Telford City Council, Faccenda stated: “The purpose of the proposed factory extension is to integrate the activities carried out at Dudley into the Telford facility, thus making Faccenda's business more efficient and also more sustainable.
“To facilitate the consolidation of the Telford and Dudley plants, it is proposed to build a linked attached extension to the east of the existing factory. The extension will accommodate new cutting and portioning lines, chilled despatch warehousing and new administration and staff facilities.”
However, while conceding the wording could imply the company planned to close down production at Dudley, a company spokeswoman moved to reassure workers that facilities there would be maintained.
‘No job losses’
She said Faccenda intended “to use the space currently at Dudley for other activities … to grow the business in other areas”. “There will be no job losses and people currently employed at the Dudley site will be offered the opportunity to move to Telford if they should choose.”
Telford City Council confirmed building work would start on the Telford extension, which is alongside, and connected to, Faccenda Group’s existing factory at Hortonwood, later this month.
The project follows the firm’s acquisition last year of turkey business Cranberry Foods.
Faccenda, which has its head office in Brackley, Northamptonshire, expects the new factory space will be completed within a year and fully operational by January 2015.
Its 6,258m2 Faccenda site at Telford would remain operational during this period, the company said, so it expected no disruption to supplies.
“This is another major phase in delivering our strategy for growth – signalling a step change in our capability to satisfy our customers’ requirements for innovative fresh and convenience food solutions,” said Faccenda md Andy Dawkins.
‘Rapid future growth’
“Building the new facility at our Telford site creates the space for rapid future growth. It also means significant investment in the Telford area.”
Phil Davidson, Faccenda’s operations director, added: “We have worked closely with Telford & Wrekin Council and are delighted to be able to bring inward investment in manufacturing to Telford and secure a significant local workforce.”
Councillor Charles Smith, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Housing, Development and Borough Towns, said: “We are a business winning and business supporting council and have recently launched our Invest In Telford programme to encourage companies to relocate here.
“We have been working very closely with Faccenda to enable them to develop their Hortonwood site and I am delighted that they are now able to make this announcement.”
Faccenda Group’s annual turnover is estimated to be about £300M and it employs more than 1,700 people across the UK. It operates sites in Brackley, Telford and Dudley in the West Midlands and has a farming base across the south and east of England.
