Further job losses at Robert Wiseman

The USDAW has declared its disappointment towards Robert Wiseman Dairies and their recent announcement off more job losses. The dairy recently informed employees of its Okehampton manufacturing/processing site and of its logistics and distribution depot in Cupar that there would be a total loss of up to 134 jobs.

This is not the first time Devon has seen job losses this year. In the past five weeks Robert Wiseman have made a number of redundancies from one of its sites, whilst Polestar announced a number of redundancies in the end of February.

The plans to close both of its Devon sites are part of a plan to utilise other sites - processing and distribution will be moved to other sites around the country, including one in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Robert Wiseman operates in a very competitive market, and this coupled with the sharp increases in oil and fuel has given them no choice, a representative said.

MD of Robert Wiseman has made aware that they will make every effort to find positions at their other sites for some of the staff, although many will not want to leave Devon to find a new house in a new location.

Some of the employees working within the two sites have been there their whole lives - for them, this is the end of an era some might say.

The closure of these two sites was perhaps not as much of a surprise as some thought. Robert Wiseman's trading statement released earlier this year highlighted problems with the rising prices of fuel and the plastic used in the packaging, stating that these price increases could significantly affect costs going forward.