Ready meal supplier Northern Foods is to close a factory in Swansea after a dispute with Sainsbury’s.

Sainsbury’s takes 90% of the output of the factory, which makes Chinese meals and accounts for about £25m of sales. However the plant makes a loss and Northern had demanded guarantees Sainsbury’s would continue to buy its products if Northern invested in it.

No agreement could be reached and so the factory will close. “The factory isn’t viable without a joint business plan in place,” a spokesman for Nothern told The Times.

In 2008 Northern closed a factory in Grantham which produced meals for Marks & Spencer after a dispute over terms.

 

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