Dairy Crest eyes Nottingham closure despite strong first-half

Dairy Crest could close its Nottingham operation in a bid to keep a lid on costs, despite the company predicting a robust performance for its foods division for the first half of the year.

The UK dairy giant said it had achieved double-digit sales growth both in volume and by value for key brands such as Clover, Cathedral City and Country Life, with the foods division as a whole showing "a significant uplift in performance".

However, the company said the first-half performance of its dairies division was "well down" on 2007 and indicated that it would be taking a firm line on costs, with a consultation now underway over the future of its Nottingham dairy, which employs 215 staff.

"Our foods business has made good progress in the first half of the year and our portfolio of key brands continues to grow strongly," said chief executive Mark Allen.