February 25, 2019 12.20 pm This story is over 60 months old

Over 450 jobs at risk at Boston meat plant

It was unsuccessful in a major customer tender process

Over 450 jobs could be at risk if a meat producer in Boston cannot find new customers.

Tulip Ltd has informed its workforce at Boston that it has been unsuccessful in a major customer tender process. 464 people are employed at the Boston plant, which is a Marks & Spencer site.

The sliced cooked meat manufacturing site will soon commence collective consultation with the site Works Committee over potential job losses.

It is anticipated that existing commercial commitments will come to an end in August in 2019.

The company says it is the country’s largest pig farmer and producer of pork. The company has 17 plants including in Boston, Ruskington and Spalding.

A spokesperson for Tulip said: “We have been notified of a decision in respect of a tender process with a key customer.

“The outcome is not what we had expected and clearly we are all deeply disappointed by this news.

“Tulip has a high profile in the area and remains committed to the region, with other sites in Ruskington, Spalding and King’s Lynn, as well as Boston. We will explore every opportunity to look at alternatives and minimise any impact on our people’s livelihoods.

“In the meantime, we remain committed to seeing out our existing contractual obligations.”

This isn’t the first time the company has been faced with potential job losses as back in 2013 up to 150 staff, including in Boston, were reportedly told they were at risk of redundancy.

The company employs 7,000 “highly skilled, dedicated and empowered colleagues” with an annual turnover exceeding £1billion.

According to the company’s website it is supplying all the leading retail and foodservice businesses.


SUBSCRIBE to Business Week, the new email newsletter from The Lincolnite and Lincolnshire Reporter, bringing you weekly features, analysis and a news roundup of the top stories by Stonebow Media. Sign up free to receive it every Thursday morning in your inbox. We won’t spam you or share your details with third parties, we promise!