Around 350 jobs at a Coalville business are under threat after pork producer Pilgrim's UK announced a proposed closure of its site.

The Grocer website reports that the company has launched a staff consultation into the plans which also include closing its Suuffolk site in Bury St Edmunds - putting a total of over 600 people at risk of redundancy.

The redundancy proposals threaten around 350 employees at the Coalville's base in Mantle Lane.

Pilgrim's UK says existing operations at Coalville and Bury St Edmunds would transfer to the comp[any's alternative sites at Corsham, King's Lynn, Linton and Andover.

Last week, in its annual report and accounts, Pilgrim's announced it had recorded an operating loss of £16million for the year to December, 2021.

Pilgrim's UK says the pig sector "faced the most challenging time in its history" due to the combination of significant production cost increases, falling pig prices, a decline in demand, labour shortages and export restrictions.

However, the supplier, which is part of the JBS-owned Pilgrim's Pride group based in the US, also stressed the business was "progressing well" with a recovery plan, which had "begun to deliver results", and was expected to lead to growth in Q3 of this year.

But in a statement published on Tuesday, the company said the recovery plan had also identified "some sites are significantly under-utilised in terms of operational capability and capacity", with the proposed closure of its Bury St Edmunds and Coalville sites part of a bid to ensure the company's "operational footprint across the UK is fully optimised". 

Clearly, this announcement will have major implications, not just for our sites, but the local communities surrounding them

Rachel Baldwin, vice president of HR for Pilgrim's UK, said: "The decision to propose the closure of our sites has not been taken lightly, but is unfortunately essential to help our business recover and secure a sustainable future for all of our team members across the UK."

The business will enter into collective consultation with all affected employees in the coming days following the election of employee representatives.

During this process, employees would be given the option to apply for transfer to alternative sites within the Pilgrim's UK network, it said.

"Clearly, this announcement will have major implications, not just for our sites, but the local communities surrounding them," added Baldwin.

"We will do everything we can to minimise the impact of these proposals and work closely with local authorities and agencies to support our team members through what we know will be an extremely difficult period."