Jobs at Risk at Carnoustie Potato Packing Factory

An Angus-based agricultural business is to embark on a period of consultation with 90 staff following the end of a significant packing contract. Farmcare has told workers at its Carnoustie site that an expected reduction in trading volume from September will force job cuts.

The site at Clayholes Farm on Balmachie Road specializes in packing and does not have any processing facilities, meaning it cannot offer a broader service to customers beyond prepacking fresh potatoes.

Farmcare CEO Richard Quinn said the company believes that the long-term investment needed to deliver processing capability is not commercially viable.

“We’re proud to be an employer in Scotland and we want to approach the consultation in the most transparent way possible, as we genuinely care for the future of the great team we have at Carnoustie”, Quinn told the local press.

“We will be offering guidance and support to those directly affected and will seek to utilize voluntary redundancies as a way to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies required. We will, of course, also explore alternative employment opportunities for those affected”, he added.

Quinn further stated that the move was necessary to bring “costs in line”. Farmcare employs 250 people across 12 sites in Britain.