UK
Quarter of staff at chicken factory supplying M&S are self-isolating amid coronavirus outbreak, unions say

Harriet Brewis Evening Standard 17 June 2020

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Around a quarter of staff at major chicken processing factory are self-isolating following an outbreak of coronavirus, unions have said.

Thirteen workers have tested positive for Covid-19 at the 2 Sisters plant in Llangefni, North Wales, with 110 self-isolating as a precaution, BBC Wales Today reported.

Its owner 2 Sisters Food Group has not confirmed the number of cases, but efforts to tackle the “cluster” are being treated as a “priority”, union leaders have said.

The company is one of the largest food producers in the UK, owning the Fox’s Biscuits and Holland’s Pies brands, and counting Marks & Spencer among its high profile customers.

According to its website, 2 Sisters produces around a third of all poultry products eaten every day in the UK.

Paddy McNaught, regional officer for the Unite union, told BBC Wales: “It’s very frightening for the staff on site seeing all their colleagues being off work and so many people proving positive for having Covid-19.

“It’s clearly very frightening times and people are concerned, but we’re doing all we can to support those staff through our reps on site and with the company in taking actions to make it a safer environment as possible.”

A statement issued by Isle of Anglesey County Council said: “The North Wales Regional Test, Trace, Protect team is responding to the cluster of coronavirus cases at the 2 Sisters plant in Llangefni as a priority, and supporting the workplace.

“Key agencies including Public Health Wales, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Health and Safety Executive and both Anglesey and Gwynedd Councils are working together to support and advise the employer and those employees who have tested positive, together with their contacts.”

A spokesperson for 2 Sisters Food Group told the Standard its "key priority" is to "continue to provide the safest possible workplace and support all colleagues at Llangefni, as we have been doing successfully for three months without one single positive case reported at the site."

They added: "The health and safety of every colleague is of paramount importance to us, which is why we have had a series of measures in place for some time including regular and intensive deep cleaning and disinfecting regimes, the wearing of protective visors in production areas and implementing social distancing throughout the factory.

"We continually review and evolve these measures to reassure and protect all colleagues, and have redoubled our efforts since positive cases were confirmed. For instance we have now introduced thermal temperature checks on entry and employed marshalls to ensure social distancing is maintained in high traffic areas.

"As a company policy we will confirm cases but will not provide running commentaries nor disclose employee data.”

Welsh chicken factory closed for two weeks over Covid-19 in staff

Simon Goodley
The Guardian18 June 2020







The UK’s main supplier of supermarket chicken has shut one of its factories for two weeks after an outbreak of coronavirus among the plant’s staff.

Public Health Wales said 58 Covid-19 cases had been confirmed at 2 Sisters Food Group’s facility in Llangefni, Anglesey, which employs around 560 people.

2 Sisters said in a statement: “We will not tolerate any unnecessary risks, however small, for our existing loyal workforce at the facility. We have worked in close collaboration in the past week with Public Health Wales, Anglesey council, the Health and Safety Executive, FSA [Food Standards Agency] and the Unite union, who have all offered great advice, scientific knowledge and support, and we thank them for their help and guidance, which has informed this decision.”

The firm, which has eight other sites in its poultry division and supplies all of the main supermarkets as well as fast-food chains such as KFC, is no stranger to operating under reduced capacity. In 2017, after a Guardian and ITV News undercover investigation raised questions about food standards, the company suspended production at its West Bromwich chicken plant for five weeks in order to deal with the problems. The company said at the time that the closure would cost it up to £500,000 a week.

United welcomed the move to close the Anglesey facility and predicted similar problems could arise throughout the meat processing sector.

Bev Clarkson, Unite’s national officer for food, drink and agriculture, said: “The relaxation of social distancing has been brought in too soon; we predicted a spike in the meat industry. You only have to look at what has happened in America and Germany to know that it would happen here. Measures need to be taken now by the government to stop further spikes within the sector.”

2 Sisters was founded in 1993 with a bank loan taken out by Ranjit Singh Boparan, who left school at 16 with few qualifications and spent his early working life working in a butcher’s shop.

He has built the business into one of the UK’s largest food companies and has also acquired a collection of restaurants including Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner. He bought the Carluccio’s chain last month.