Tate sugar depot to close
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• Tate and Lyle Sugars' Willenhall depot is to close tomorrow (30 October) with the loss of 16 drivers' jobs.
The Midlands base has provided a link depot for bulk sugar transport since the closure of the sugar manufacturer's Liverpool refinery 10 years ago.
But a change in the company's customer base and in the road network has led to a decision to resite the depot in Northampton, says sales and marketing director Clive Rutherford, "From Northampton we can get one driver to make two trips to London to fill up during the night shift and still get to our customers in the North-west the next day. From Willenhall we needed two drivers."
Sixteen of the Willenhallbased drivers, together with a supervisor and engineering supervisor, will lose their jobs.
Most are taking early retirement, says Rutherford. Four drivers are staying on as "roamers" and one is to be transferred to the Northampton depot.
Tate and Lyle has recruited 13 drivers and a supervisor for the Northampton depot and is still trying to recruit one driver.