Angry and devastated staff at Suttons Seeds in Paignton say they have received redundancy consultation letters from new parent company Thompson & Morgan amid claims the firm the has reneged on promises to keep seed production in Paignton.
The 200-year-old Suttons Seeds used to be one of Torbay's biggest employers with more than 300 full and seasonal staff. Now employees say there are only about 40 full-time staff at the Woodview Road factory in Paignton, near South Devon College.
The consultation letter to staff from Thompson & Morgan - seen by DevonLive - says "the organisation may have to make some redundancies" after a move to new larger premises in Ipswich and a move to "streamline seed handling operations" in one location.
One of those who has received the redundancy warning said: "There's about 20 of us have been given redundancy letters - that's about half the permanent staff are going, the rest are agency workers. There's going to be no production in Paignton any more. It's all moving to Ipswich, despite all the protestations when Thompson & Morgan took over. They said Suttons was going to stay in Paignton. But now all that's going to be here is the live plants grown at Occombe trials ground. They come in as plug plants, we plant them and then send them on.
"We are all so angry and upset. We worked all through lockdown to keep the company going because seed production was classed as essential work."
The letter from T&M's head of human resources tells staff to start looking for alternative employment and adds: "I want to make clear that no decisions have been taken and that no decision on this will be made until the consultation has concluded. We appreciate this is likely to be an upsetting and worrying time."
In December 2020, the owner of Thompson & Morgan bought Suttons Seeds including Suttons, Dobies and Organic Gardening Catalogue, making it the UK’s biggest online plant retailer. The takeover meant that the BVG Group had garden sales of more than £82m annually.
On its website after the takeover the company promised: "Founded in 1806, Suttons has more than 200 years of experience in producing seeds, plants and equipment. The company will stay at its Paignton, Devon headquarters."
Suttons moved to Torquay in 1976 and moved to its current £4m factory in Paignton at the end of 1998. At that time there were around 200 employees - growing to 300-plus during the peak season. In addition to the Woodview Road headquarters, Devon was also home to Suttons' six-acre trial grounds at Ipplepen until 2013.
Staff numbers shrunk to about 100 permanent staff by 2013 when the trial ground moved to Occombe, Paignton.
The BVG Group which owns Thompson & Morgan and Suttons Seeds has been contacted for a comment.
