More than 300 jobs at risk at food packing facility

More than 300 jobs are at risk at a food packing facility in County Tyrone.

ABP plans to stop work at its Linden Foods retail packing facility in the Granville Industrial Estate in Dungannon.

Linden Foods processes and manufactures beef, lamb, pork and chicken for branded and own label products.

A spokesperson for ABP, which owns Linden Foods, said it was "a very difficult step" but the company was "facing a challenging and changing UK and global marketplace for beef and lamb".

"Stream-lining our operations is a necessity to achieve operational efficiencies, maintain our competitiveness and strengthen our business for the long term," the spokesperson added.

ABP has entered into a formal consultation process with 338 employees.

The company said they would try to "minimise the impact on those who are affected", including by redeployment where possible.

In their statement, ABP added: "Changes in the UK landscape have led to the difficult but necessary requirement to consolidate and reduce the number of our retail packing facilities situated within the UK including Northern Ireland."

ABP Linden Foods receives and processes cattle and sheep at a separate facility that is also located within Granville Industrial Estate, but these jobs are not impacted.

ABP's Lurgan and Newry sites and Kettyle Irish Foods in Lisnaskea are also not impacted.

Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew said the news was "very shocking".

He told BBC News NI: "There will be cases where husbands and wives will both work in the factory and other family members so it's close-knit in that sense."

Gildernew said the area had "a very high-profile food and engineering sector" and the impact of the job losses will be felt.

"I will also want to understand from the company what their reasons are for taking this move," he said, adding: "We have a great product here, a great workforce. It's very long established."

Democratic Unionist Party MLA (DUP) Deborah Erskine said she was "deeply concerned".

"The company is a huge employer of the Dungannon and wider Tyrone area."

"The news that retail packaging jobs are set to be lost is a hammer blow to the local economy, to the agri-foods industry here and to many people employed by the company," she added.

Diana Armstrong MLA, from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said it was "extremely bad news".

"These are skilled workers who now face enormous uncertainty," she said.

"For many families, this announcement will cause real anxiety about how they will make ends meet in the weeks and months ahead.

"There is also the very real prospect that some people may be forced to travel further afield or even relocate to find alternative employment, which brings additional financial and personal strain," she added.