Firm slammed over office crèche plans

A TARLETON company has been accused of ignoring government advice by setting up an office crèche.

A leaked email given to the LancsLive website shows that GA Pet Foods Partners pushed to set up a crèche at its office, encouraging employees to bring their children into work.

Government health officials believe that although children are not as susceptible to Covid-19, they are likely to spread it.

A GA Pet Foods employee said that, despite the recent government measures, the company continued to operate the crèche which effectively encourages staff not to stay at home if they have children.

They said: “It angers me when people don’t act responsibly in this uncertain time.

“I feel so let down by the company, I feel like they don’t value me as a person or a worker.

“I just feel like the company are treating us all like a number, I’m scared for me and for other people at the company.”

The firm is a major pet food producer, employing about 2,000 people at sites in Tarleton, Chorley, and Bretherton.

The company’s CEO, Roger Bracewell, 59, owns the company, worth more than £200m, with his brother, Giles.

The partnership packages many of the major pet foods including Eden, Canagan, Symply, Lily’s Kitchen and Barking Heads.

His email informing staff that a crèche would be set up at the office for the children of employees contradicted government advice on slowing the spread of Covid-19.

All nurseries and schools were closed on Friday, March 20 by

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, two days after Mr Bracewell sent the email out.

Part of the email reads: “As confirmed yesterday by the chief medical officer in yesterday’s briefings, schools are very safe and children are resilient to disease.”

What the message did not mention was that children could still contract the disease and were more likely to spread it to vulnerable adults.

Children are known to be a significant contributor to the spread of droplet-based viruses (such as Covid-19) because they interact physically so much and are not always the best at keeping themselves clean.

The GA employee said: “I just want the people of Tarleton to be safe.

“It makes me so upset, people are relying on large companies like this to act responsibly.”

GA Pet Food Partners declined to comment.