Wigan MP holds out 'faint hopes' for food factory facing axe

And while Lisa Nandy was careful not to build anyone’s hopes up, she did say that there were certain reasons for “faint hope” that perhaps some of Ince-based Bakkavor Meals’ employees and facilities might be saved.

Announcing the closure earlier this month, the international company said the operation there was no longer profitable, even if the site didn't need significant investment as well, which it does.

It is believed that the business as a whole has been hit by a major supermarket switching to another supplier.

A consultation over redundancies was due to begin this week and must last a minimum of 45 days, although Bakkavor has already told staff that the plant would close in February.

After talks with company chiefs yesterday (September 19), Ms Nandy said they had been “slightly more positive than I thought they would be.”

She told Wigan Today: “Whichever way you look at it this is terrible news for Ince in particular and Wigan as a whole.

"But there were some faint hopes from our discussions, although I wouldn’t want to build people’s hopes up unduly.

“The likelihood is still closure but they are open-minded to alternatives and several staff have come forward with ideas for at least salvaging part of the business.

"One of the big problems is the age of the site: it needs a lot of investment. But some parts of the plant are more recent and one of the thoughts is that these could still be used.

"Wigan Council has already been involved supporting the staff but maybe they could further help if some of the business could be saved by one of these proposals.

"Many times have I seen companies stick to the minimum 45 days’ consultation, but this does not seem to be a box-ticking exercise for Bakkavor, giving the process a much longer run-in and thereby giving more time to explore alternatives to complete closure.

"I asked them if they were moving the jobs elsewhere but they said ‘no’ because quite a few of their production lines were going to other suppliers.

"But it is good to see they are exploring other avenues.”

Ms Nandy said Bakkavor had been appointing reps for each division of the factory to lead the consultation.