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REDUNDANCY notices are expected to go out this week to some of the staff at the threatened Cromer Crab Company factory in North Norfolk.
Around 70 jobs among the 200-plus people who work at the site, owned by Young's Seafood, are likely to go over the next two months, but it looks as if the factory itself will remain in business.
Young's chief operating officer Pete Ward said: "This is about ensuring our business for the long-term." It is more than three months since Young's announced that the factory was not economically viable under the current operating conditions and the company entered into a 90-day consultation with staff after it announced a review of manufacturing operations.
It said at the time that it was looking at all options including closure of the plant, a threat which brought strong local protests supported by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Delia Smith and local MPs. Young's indicated at the weekend that the first round of redundancies will begin next year, probably starting in mid January.
Mr Ward said the best case model was that the plant needed about 128 people, adding that the company would provide enhanced redundancy terms to those affected including help with finding alternative work.
He added that it was not a decision which had been taken lightly and it in no way reflected on the work force, who had continued to work through what was an incredibly difficult time in an incredibly difficult economic climate.
It's thought that one option being looked at is for another seafood business to move into the factory alongside Young's, but this move is thought to be in its early stages. Last week Young's acquired Cumbrian Seafoods and its three factories in northern England. The takeover is not thought to have any affect one way or the other on the Cromer Crab Company situation.
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