The decision follows a 45-day period of consultation between staff, management and GMB union representatives, over the fate of workers at the Laporte Way site which began last October.
At one stage it looked like more than 100 employees would lose their jobs. But operations director David Bateman told FoodManufacture.co.uk “the figure was reduced to 86” because the company had managed to minimise the losses.
He said he believed the company was in a good place to recover from the termination of the Morrisons contract. “There's nothing on the horizon as yet, but we remain extremely confident that in the future we will replace that void.”
‘Difficult period’
In a statement issued as SH Pratt confirmed the job cuts, Bateman said: “We would like to thank all our employees, especially those directly affected by the restructure, for their assistance and understanding during this difficult period.”
Warren Kenny, who leads the GMB’s London region organising team and represented union members at SH Pratt for some years, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “This is going to have a big impact in the local economy. Pratts has been a very recognisable and admired supplier in the area for many years. It has always been a good employer in the town [Luton].”
Morrisons revealed in July 2013 that it had acquired a banana ripening facility at Boston, Lincolnshire, from Del Monte as part of a joint venture with Global Pacific. The move would create 80 jobs there, it said at the time.
Bateman explained in October: “Morrisons traditionally packs a lot of its products in-house, but until now they haven’t done so with bananas.
Banana ripening facility
“They had the opportunity to buy a banana ripening facility in Lincolnshire and the transition from Luton to Boston will be complete by November 23.”
SH Pratt imports, ripens and distributes organic, Fairtrade and conventional bananas as well as bananitos and pineapples to top UK retailers.