Northern Foods shuts factories to increase efficiency

Northern Foods is to close two of its UK factories with the loss of 1,000 jobs in an attempt to drive down costs as it struggles against rising raw material bills and price squeezes from supermarkets. The manufacturing group,whose products include Fox’s biscuits and Dalepak frozen foods,said its Evesham and Carlisle plants are scheduled to close in 2005. Northern Foods believes that this proposal is the best means of enhancing plant utilisation and productivity.