Over 150 jobs are currently at risk at the McVitie’s factory in Stockport due to a restructure within the snack food company.
McVitie’s is known for producing a range of cakes and biscuits, such as chocolate digestives, Penguin bars, Hobnobs, and Jaffa Cakes, from its Greater Manchester factory – but now, its parent company Pladis has announced plans to restructure that will potentially lead to the loss of 159 of 470 roles.
Pladis said the decision was made as the industry “grapples with new and growing external pressures”, and has blamed rising inflation for pushing up production costs.
It has also pointed to increasing energy costs and supply chain disruption.
Pladis said the Stockport factory remains a “critical part” of its operations in the UK. but it added the factory’s operating model “is no longer sustainable and must be addressed as part of the proposed changes.”
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Over 150 jobs are currently at risk at the McVitie’s factory in Stockport due to a restructure within the company / Credit: McVitie’s
Speaking on the announcement, Nina Sparks – Vice President of Supply Chain at Pladis UK & Ireland – said: “We understand this news will be very difficult for those in Manchester as our Manchester factory remains an important part of our UK business, but our priority now is to provide our colleagues with clear guidance and the right support as we start the proposed consultation process.
“Pladis is the proud custodian of some of the world’s best-loved snacking brands and we believe strongly in their enduring consumer appeal.
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“But, like many other businesses, we are grappling with new and growing external pressures.
“We must, therefore, review and consider appropriate steps to safeguard the future of our whole business.”
McVitie’s is known for producing a range of cakes and biscuits from its Greater Manchester factory / Credit: Flickr
Trade union Usdaw said staff had been left “devastated” by the proposed cuts, and would now begin consultation talks with the firm.
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“This is devastating news for our members, many of whom have given long service to the company and all worked throughout the pandemic when food manufacturing was identified as an essential service,” said Dave Gill, National Officer at Usdaw.
“We will now enter into meaningful consultation talks with the company, where we will interrogate their business case for these proposed job losses, and our priorities are to keep as many staff employed within the business as possible and avoid compulsory redundancies.
“In the meantime we are providing our members with the support, advice and representation they need at this difficult time.”
Featured Image – Pladis / McVities
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
22nd March 2022 
