MÜLLER WISEMAN DAIRIES CONFIRMS PENSILVA STATUTORY CONSULTATION

Müller Wiseman Dairies has confirmed that it is to begin a statutory consultation on the future of its distribution depot at Pensilva in Cornwall.

The business will work closely with employees and union representatives at the depot during the 30 day consultation, which affects 58 posts.

The consultation follows a reduction in milk supplied from the depot and changes in customer requirements with large volumes of fresh milk increasingly being supplied directly to regional distribution centres rather than smaller deliveries to individual stores.

Müller Wiseman Dairies has stressed that in the event that the decision is taken to close the depot, some employees could be offered the opportunity to transfer to distribution roles at the Company’s Bridgwater Depot in Somerset.

The business has underlined its intention to maintain its service to customers in Cornwall and Devon using its dairy and depot infrastructure in the South West of England regardless of the outcome of the consultation. Dairy farmers would be unaffected by any change.  

Carl Ravenhall, Managing Director at Müller Wiseman Dairies said:

“We have a very strong network of depots and dairies throughout the Country but we must adapt to changes in the market which we serve.

“Many individual stores continue to look to us to supply them with milk every day, but some customers now have the capability to manage distribution themselves using regional distribution centres, and no longer require us to deliver directly to each of their stores.

 “We operate in a very competitive environment and it is right that we properly review the viability of this depot going forward, taking the views and ideas of our employees and their representatives into account over the next month, before arriving at a decision.“

Note to Editors

Müller UK & Ireland Group

Müller UK & Ireland Group is wholly owned by the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller. It has 19 sites nationwide and employs almost 6,000 people across four business units: Müller Dairy, Müller Wiseman Dairies, Müller Minsterley and TM Telford.

Based in Market Drayton, Müller Dairy is the UK’s leading yogurt manufacturer, with major brands such as Müller Corner, Müllerlight and Müller Rice.

Müller Wiseman Dairies processes and delivers around 30% of the fresh milk consumed in Britain every day and is famous for its black & white cow-print branding. In December 2013, the business formally opened a major new state of the art butter-making plant in Shropshire, with the capacity to produce up to 45,000 tonnes of salted, unsalted and lactic butter each year.

Müller Minsterley is our facility near Shrewsbury at which chilled desserts including Cadbury Mousse, Trifle and Twin-pot products are made which Müller sells under license from Cadbury.

TM Telford is a state of the art yogurt production facility in Telford, Shropshire which is focused on the development of the company’s presence in the UK private label yogurt market.

To make its range of dairy products, the company buys milk from more than 1,200 British dairy farmers, all of whom are Red Tractor Farm Assured.