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Turkey giant Bernard Matthews urged to reassure staff over sale ... Unite, which represents 450 of 2,000 employees, says owner Rutland Partners must address future of workforce

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Turkey giant Bernard Matthews urged to reassure staff over sale

Unite, which represents 450 of 2,000 employees, says owner Rutland Partners must address future of workforce

Turkeys on a Bernard Matthews farm. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Trade union officials have urged the turkey giant Bernard Matthews to reassure staff about their futures after the company was put up for sale.

Bernard Matthews, known for the “bootiful” catchphrase employed by its namesake founder, was put up for sale by its owner, Rutland Partners, earlier this week.

Britain’s largest trade union, Unite, which represents 450 of the company’s 2,000-strong workforce, called for more clarity before a meeting with the management next month.

“Unite recognises that Bernard Matthews is in a very competitive marketplace, with profit margins being squeezed,” said the regional officer Steve Harley. “This issue is one for the management’s marketing and sales team to address as a matter of urgency.

“It is a worrying time for our members, and we will be seeking clarity on what this means for the company and the workers when we meet management on Friday 15 July.”

Unite’s members are based at the company’s production sites at Great Witchingham in Norfolk and Holton in Suffolk, and at its animal food mill at Bawsey, near King’s Lynn.

In an email to staff earlier this week, Rutland Partners’ executive chairman, Alan Jamieson, said the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers had been appointed to find a buyer for the business.

“This does not affect the internal operation of the business,” he told staff. “Neither does it reduce in any way Rutland’s support for the BM management team as it continues to strengthen and improve the business following the disappointing results achieved over the last year or so.”

Rutland Partners, which also owns Pizza Hut and the electronics chain Maplin, bought Bernard Matthews, Europe’s largest turkey producer, in 2013.

The company was named after its charismatic founder, who died in 2010, aged 80, with an estimated fortune of £300m. He began his professional life as a trainee livestock auctioneer in Norwich.