Armagh's Linwoods announces up to 90 redundancies

By Adam Evans

Armagh's Linwoods has announced its to make approximately 90 members of its full-time staff redundant.

Its management has described the decision as "very difficult" and says that people are the priority going forward.

The company has confirmed its van sales distribution business is to come to an end.

Overall the firm 250 full time and 45 casual employees in Northern Ireland and operates across two sites in County Armagh.

John Woods, joint managing director of Linwoods, said: "This is obviously a very difficult decision for our company today and our priority is our people. We will do all that we can to make this process as smooth as we can for them and their families.

"Linwoods has been a business at the heart of the County Armagh community for a long time and in order to continue to do this we have had to react to a change in the requirements of our market.

"Our customer's buying habits have changed and we have seen the demand for 800g white bread falling dramatically in recent years. When this is combined with the increasing costs for distribution of our bakery and dairy products, it has become a wholly unviable prospect for the future of our business. 

"In comparison to this our health food business is growing and continues to be successful around the world. Our focus and our investment will now be placed on this side of the business."