WORKERS at an established Bradford company will know by Christmas how many are likely to lose their jobs after an announcement was made that redundancies are being explored.

The Telegraph & Argus has learned that Princes Soft Drinks, based in Weaverthorpe Road, Tong, has started a consultation process with its workforce.

Unite union said it would work with the company to ensure any job losses are kept to a minimum.

Princes , in the meantime, is being tight-lipped about the situation. A spokesman said: “We are conducting a review of our operations, and until this process is complete, no further information can be disclosed.”

However, an employee who asked not to be named, said the threat was very real.

“This has been talked about for the past year. We knew something was going to happen but it was a shock when we were told last week that a 90-day consultation had started.

“Over the last 22 months, sales and production have gone down. It didn’t help when we lost a big contract with Asda last year. It’s not that the site isn’t making any money,” he said.

“What looks like will be happening here is they are looking at getting rid of a shift. At the moment we operate four shifts between 7am and 7pm on a three on and two off basis.

“The idea is to go to three shifts over eight hours instead of 12. There could be some engineers’ and warehouse jobs at risk too.”

Simon Coop, regional officer for Unite said: “The company has made an announcement for redundancies and have entered consultation with Unite to keep numbers to a minimum. Previously 23 jobs were suggested at being at risk and negotiations are being made to see if those jobs can be redeployed on site.”