Swancote potatoes

Produce Investments has confirmed the closure of Swancote Foods after battling to keep the potato processor solvent.

The closure means dozens of employees face redundancy or redeployment with the last day of production set for the 20thSeptember.

The Telford-based firm produces processed potatoes for the food manufacturing sector. The company was started in 1995 to take advantage of opportunities in cooked potato supply, before being acquired by Greenvale in 2007.

Swancote has been a struggling part of the business in recent years, and Produce Investments has regularly flagged it up as underperforming. It also racked up a seven-figure loss following a metal contamination issue at the division in 2015.

The company announced earlier last month that it was launching a 30 day consultancy period with staff.

A statement released by Produce Investments said: “Management at PI will seek to redeploy as many employees as possible into suitable alternate roles across the gourp and to facilitate outplacement and training support for all at Swancote.

“The Board of PI confirmed that this has been a very difficult decision and that the business has been operating at a loss for several years, with the underlying perfroamnce remaining unsustainable.

“Group Chief Executive, Angus Armstrong, paid tribute to all Swancote employees for the professional way they have conducted themselves throughout this difficult process.”