Arla Foods plans to cut 100 jobs

Arla, which has its head office in Leeds, said it was “embarking on the next stage of its development to add value and bring innovation to the UK dairy sector”.

The company said it had invested more than £500m in its UK business over recent years “to create a solid platform”.

It has completed a merger with Milk Link, opened the world’s largest fresh milk facility at Aylesbury, and recruited around 3,000 British farmers into its cooperative.

The statement added: “It (Arla) is now taking the natural step to tighten its organisation through a restructure that will increase its focus on building its brands, up-weight its innovation and deliver even more for its customers. Arla has a good platform from which to operate and now plans to restructure its business so that it can further invest in its commercial and marketing areas as well as become more agile, efficient and competitive. As a result of this, Arla is proposing a reduction of around 100 positions and those affected will be entering into a consultation process. “

Peter Giørtz-Carlsen, Arla Foods UK executive vice president, said: “I know that there are many more opportunities open for us to drive dairy further and that we can make it even more exciting for our customers and consumers. The changes that we have announced will enable us to dial-up our innovation and use the inherent healthy credentials that dairy has to offer. We have ambitious plans next year including further investment in our Arla brand and launching a range of new products in our current and new categories.”

“We will be working across our organisation to limit the number of proposed redundancies and I understand that this will be an uncertain time for some of our colleagues and their families. However, the plans that we are announcing today, will leave us better placed to remain the strongest and best performing dairy company in the future.”

A spokesman said that the majority of roles that are likely to be cut are based at Arla UK’s head office in Leeds.