It said a consultation was ongoing, with the repurposed site expected to employ between 100 to 200 staff. This could mean the loss of some jobs at the site, which it would look to redeploy to other parts of the business.
Samworth could not confirm if there would be any job losses with the plans.
In 2013, Samworth Brothers revealed plans to invest £10.1m in its Brooksby Foods unit in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, over the next three-year period, having bought a 2,973m2 plant adjacent to an existing factory there.
Consulting
Brooksby Foods was established in 2012 as a spin off to Samworth Brothers’ Kettleby Foods ready meals division.
“We are consulting with colleagues at Brooksby Foods about a repurposing of the site to produce plant-based lines,” a spokeswoman confirmed.
“The consultation is ongoing and has not concluded. If it did go ahead, the repurposed site would initially have 100-200 roles and we would be looking at redeploying other colleagues to other parts of the business where possible.”
New measures
Earlier this year Crussh Fit Food & Juice Bars partnered with Samworth Brothers to produce a new range of healthy snacks and ready meals for Sainsbury’s stores in the UK.
In September 2019, Samworth highlighted a range of new measures to instigate a return to profitability for the firm. It reported a drop in profit before tax of £800,000 to £19m, for the period ending 29 December, 2019, although this excluded non-recurring costs of £18.2m. In 2017, by comparison, the company had posted a profit of £25.3m.
