A FIRM has announced plans to close its factory in north east Scotland, claiming its "remote" location has made it unviable.
Some 36 jobs are at risk with the factory, which produces jerky and biltong, set to close its doors and production moved south of the Border.
Forres New World Foods, part of Valeo Foods UK, told Forres Local that a closing date of 30 April has been proposed for the site.
Production is set to be moved to York and Wigan. Logistical issues are being cited as the reason behind the closure.
Valeo recently conducted a strategic review of its business in the UK, with a view to increase cost-efficiency and productivity to help further growth.
The business currently operates three manufacturing facilities located in York, Wigan, and Forres.
A spokesperson for the company said: “Forres presents significant logistical challenges due to its remote location. These challenges have made it increasingly difficult to maintain cost efficiencies, which are crucial in today’s competitive market.
“The York site has the immediate capacity to handle current production volumes, and it is well-positioned to support both our short- and medium-term growth objectives.
“The strategic review considered many different options from a capacity, cost and cash perspective. We assessed the capacity and demand for different products; the projected investment required across all sites, along with identifying operational improvement opportunities.
“As a result, the proposal was to cease operations at our meat snacks production facility in Forres, and transfer production to sister Valeo sites within the Meat Snacks Division
“We conducted a collective consultation with all employees at the Forres site and no alternative solutions were found to mitigate this proposal.”
CEO of Valeo Foods UK, Kevin Moore, added: “This closure is in no way a reflection on the dedicated efforts of the Forres team who have shown great commitment to improve the performance of the site in recent years”.
