THE retail and catering company, Allied Bakeries Ltd, is to make
almost 200 staff redundant from the end of this month with the closure
of 27 bakery shops throughout central Scotland.
The company, which once boasted of having a store in almost every High
Street, said yesterday that a change in consumer retail shopping
patterns, together with the recession, had resulted in declining sales
in some of its small bakery-only shops.
It will close 27 loss-making shops, including 12 in the Glasgow area,
on or about January 30. Those affected trade as City Bakeries, Baker's
Oven, Martins, and Strathdee and employ a mixture of full-time and
part-time staff.
Allied, which also employs 1200 staff at bakeries in Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee, said another 59 shops throughout
Scotland, staffed by 750 workers, would remain open.
Mr David Woodward, the retail director, said yesterday the latest
closures, which follow about 20 in Scotland during the past two years,
were largely due to the dependence of the stores on the sale of bread.
He said: ''The over-capacity in the bakery industry means that
standard (pan) bread is being sold by plant bakers at a loss and is
often sold at cost by discount supermarkets.
''The small baker offering personal service cannot compete with this
unless he is able to broaden his range to include hot pies and snacks,
which needs the right location. Long term, it will lead to less choice
for the customer.''
Mr Woodward, who said Allied Bakeries regretted the redundancies which
had occurred at a ''difficult'' time for employment, added that the
company's redundancy payment scheme was available to all staff with the
necessary service qualifications.
The company's Scottish regional retail head office, which employs five
people, might move from its present site in Milngavie to another
location as a result of the closure of its shop there.
Mr Pat McCormick, Scottish divisional officer of the shop workers'
trade union, Usdaw, said yesterday the announcement came as no surprise.
''There are often redundancies in the retail sector in January.
''We are also finding that we have problems on the products side of
bakeries with many bakers going to the wall as larger operators install
new technology in larger plants. These redundancies are simply a symptom
of the times.''
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