Moy Park, which earlier announced a proposed plan to close its poultry plant in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, U.K., decided that the plant will not close, but instead be downsized and repurposed.
In an email to WATT Global Media, a spokesperson for the company said that Moy Park is “repositioning” the plant as a business-to-business supplier. The company describe that decision as one that done to “enhance security of supply.”
“We are able to reshape our Ashbourne facility to be a business-to-business supplier, saving the site from closure. While the site will be downsized, 175 jobs will be saved as a result of this repositioning,” the spokesperson said. “This move will ensure we have a strong security of supply for future opportunities and provides contingency options.”
Moy Park in September announced that it was considering a proposal to close the Ashbourne plant and consolidate its operations into other company sites, saying the company was “in a position to move its fresh primary operations from a four-factory model to a three-factory model.” The company stated that it was consulting the staff at the Ashbourne plant, hatchery and logistics operation about the proposal.
Under that proposed plan, the company facilities in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, and Anwick, Lincolnshire, would absorb the production done in Ashbourne and still have the capacity to potentially grow in the future.
The Ashbourne complex has been part of Moy Park’s operations since 2004, when the assets were acquired from Dove Valley Poultry, according to a report from the Derby Telegraph.
Moy Park, a subsidiary of Pilgrim’s Pride since 2017, is Europe’s ninth largest poultry producer. During the past year, according to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies survey, Moy Park slaughtered 312 million broilers. The company was previously owned by JBS, and before that it was part of Marfrig Global Foods’ operations.
