34 jobs to be lost when meat packing plant closes

A MEAT packing plant in west Wales that is home to 141 staff is to close, it has been confirmed.

Dunbia, which has 15 facilities across Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, is to close its meat-packing plant in Felinfach in Ceredigion within a matter of weeks.

The company has insisted, however, that they will continue to invest in the business in west Wales by focusing on their sites in Cross Hands and Llanybydder in Carmarthenshire.

The news will still come as a blow to the 141 people who currently work in Felinfach, all of whom have been involved in a consultation process with their employers which has recently concluded.

Staff were all offered alternative roles at the company’s other locations in Carmarthenshire which are both company-owned.

The plant in Felinfach was not owned by Dunbia - who merged with Cross Hands-based Dawn Meats last year - and the closure follows the termination of a lease agreement.

34 staff will be made redundant, and the remaining 107 will be offered a free bus service to transport them to their new working quarters, which will stop at Felinfach, Lampeter, Llanybydder and Cross Hands.

The company will also provide a “support payment” to those who are relocating “in recognition of the disruption caused by the transfer”.

Dunbia says the decision to close the Felinfach plant was out of their control, and insist that they will continue to invest in their other locations, which, they claim, will lead to them actually employing more people in Wales.

“We currently employ over 1,100 staff in Wales between our three facilities, and despite the closure of Felinfach we expect that this number will be higher in 12 months’ time as we continue to invest in growing the business,” said Helen Rees, HR director at Dunbia.

“The closure at Felinfach is due to circumstances beyond our control, and we have made a significant effort to offer staff alternative employment options and to support them through this transition.”

In February, the company had denied that jobs were at risk but did admit that they were reviewing their “factory footprint”.

The uncertainty led to a meeting being held at the National Assembly building in Cardiff, where a representative of Dunbia met with politicians to discuss the firm’s future in West Wales.

The Felinfach plant will close next month.