‘Heartbreak’ as 300 jobs go at scandal-hit meat supplier

A MEAT supplier with a base in Harrogate has crashed into administration, with 300 jobs lost, after a food hygiene probe caused customers JD Wetherspoon and Jamie’s Italian restaurants to end their contracts.

Russell Hume, which operated six production sites in Boroughbridge, Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Exeter and Fife, became engulfed in scandal last month after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) launched an investigation over an alleged “serious” breach of food hygiene rules.

Administrators KPMG said 266 jobs would be made redundant, with 36 staff remaining to help wind down the company. Of the 40 jobs based in Boroughbridge. 36 will be immediately lost, with four members of staff assisting administrators. In total, it is expected all 302 jobs will be lost.

Chris Pole, KPMG joint administrator, said there was “little prospect” of production restarting, and it would be seeking buyers for the business.

In a statement, the directors of Russell Hume said the FSA’s action created “impossible trading conditions” and the decision to go into administration was “heartbreaking”.

It said: “We will continue to work with the FSA with regards to the issues it raised, but we still feel its action has been out of all proportion to the concerns it says it has identified. Had it worked more closely with us in the crucial early stages of the situation, then more than 300 jobs may not have been lost.”

It added: “We are very sorry the Russell Hume story should have ended in such a sudden and devastating way.”