Nearly 60 jobs are at risk after a major employer in the Pensilva area announced a review of the viability of its operations there. Robert Wiseman Dairies this week confirmed that it has started a statutory consultation on the future of its milk processing operation in view of the 'prohibitive' investment required at the site. Staff at the plant were informed of the decision at a meeting on Wednesday. The company bought the Newlands Farm fresh milk business, which included the dairies at Pensilva and Okehampton, from Milk Link for £5.5m in 2006, but has recently completed a new production facility at Bridgwater in Somerset. In a statement the Glasgow-based firm stressed that, even if milk production ends at Pensilva it intends to retain its existing distribution operation there, securing 77 of the 133 jobs it currently provides. A 30-day formal consultation process has begun, with the company asking production staff to make their views known during that period. Talks are also taking place with officials from the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, to which many of those who work at Pensilva belong.
Farms
Martyn Mulcahy, group operations director at Robert Wiseman Dairies, said milk from Cornish farms remained an important part of the company's 'offering'. 'We have to address the reality, which is that the cost of processing milk and the investment required at the site at Pensilva is prohibitively high in comparison to our other dairies in the UK. 'We have little option other than to review the viability of the site going forward.' The 30-day formal consultation process ends on April 25 .