ForFarmers to shut down Blandford feed mill as part of 'reduction plan'

ForFarmers UK announces its intention to close its site in Blandford in the second quarter of 2019
ForFarmers UK announces its intention to close its site in Blandford in the second quarter of 2019

Feed company ForFarmers has announced its intention to close its Blandford plant as part of its £5m 'reduction plan'.

The closing of the company's feed plant in Blandford, Dorset will affect 30 jobs, the company said in a statement.

The Blandford production volume will instead be taken on by its more modern sites in Exeter and Portbury.

The move is part of the company's objective to optimise its supply chain.

In 2017, the feed company announced its objective to rationalise the supply chain both in terms of modernising existing mills and in its footprint of site locations.

This rationalisation is part of the previously announced £5 million reduction plan.

ForFarmers operates 15 manufacturing sites in the UK, consisting of production and blending mills.

The Blandford site, one of the older ForFarmers UK sites, would require significant modifications to modernise it and improve its efficiency, the company said.

The plan is to relocate the production of conventional feed volume to the newly constructed Exeter mill and that of organic feed to Portbury, which has recently been equipped with additional raw material storage bins to support the production of organic feed.

With sales of approximately 10 million tons of feed annually, ForFarmers is a market leader in Europe. The company is active in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland and the UK.

In 2017, ForFarmers had 2,325 employees and revenues amounted to over €2.2 billion.