Bottling line sale welcomed

The future of Somerset cider is still under threat, despite welcome news yesterday that Brothers Drinks will be taking over a bottling line at the Shepton Mallet cider mill.

The high-speed bottling line, which has never been used, was purchased by the Somerset cider maker Brothers Drinks Ltd. for ÂŁ6m and sits across the road from the main site where more than 120 jobs remain under threat.

“While we are pleased that the line has been sold to the makers of Brothers Cider, also based in Shepton Mallet, there is still an urgent need for a buyer for the main site,” said Unite regional coordinating officer Steve Preddy.

“We are pleased that that there will be an unspecified number of new jobs working on the Brothers line – these are totally new jobs with this company,” he added. “However, it does not resolve the issue that 127 workers at the profitable Shepton Mallet Cider Mill face being made redundant at the end of the summer.

The call for the cider mill’s main site owners C&C group to find a buyer urgently comes as the manufacturer moved production of iconic ciders including Addlestones, Blackthorn and Olde English to Clonmel in Ireland last week.

Preddy strongly criticised C&C group’s handling of the situation that now threatens both jobs and a tradition stretching back centuries.

“The £6m bottling line was meant to be the saviour of the cider mill – the fact that it is being sold sums up the incompetence of the Irish-based owners C&C Group in the mismanagement of its Shepton Mallet operation,” he said. “Ironically, it still managed to post about £81m in profits overall.

“We wish Brothers Drinks well in the expansion of its production capability and hope it can employ as many dedicated cider workers as possible in the future.”

Brothers confirmed that it will offer certain jobs to former C&C workers. The company, which was founded by the eminent Somerset cider family the Showerings, has bought the bottling line because it says it is struggling to keep up with demand for its flavoured ciders and aims to expand its operations.

Brothers has also bought the surrounding land and buildings that house the bottling line, which has the capacity to produce 1.5m bottles per day.

Earlier last month, C&C group announced its first 40 redundancies – more than a hundred redundancies remain in the pipeline if a buyer is not forthcoming by the end of the summer, when the site is set to close.

Unite has argued that C&C group must consider selling its brands along with the site in order to attract a potential buyer.

“The brands and the site would make a very attractive package for a potential buyer at this already profitable site with an enthusiastic and dedicated workforce,” Preddy noted when the first redundancies were announced.

A recent trading update from the company expected the operating profit across its operations for the 12 months to February 29 2016 to be in the region of €103m. Results for the year will be announced on May 11.

Unite has spearheaded a concerted campaign to protect local jobs and Somerset’s historic cider making tradition. In February, a delegation of Unite shop stewards took their fight to Parliament, who met with MPs part of the all-parliament group on cider.

Unite Shepton Mallet Mill shop steward Stephen Faulkner had hailed the meeting a success.

“These are very specialised skills that have been in the area for generations,” he said. “We had some really good discussions with the parliamentary group on cider because they have a sound understanding of the process that goes into make cider.”

“The MPs were all on board with supporting us in our fight,” he added. “They’ve committed to putting pressure on C&C to sell their brands and preserve Somerset’s historic traditions.”