ONE of Herefordshire’s biggest employers has announced dramatic plans to scale down its operations.

S&A Produce wants to cut the number of polytunnels at its Brierley Court Farm by 80 per cent and is set to halve employee numbers.

Bosses say the cuts are being made to “enhance sustainability”

of the soft fruit firm and to “meet the expectations of local people” and follow on from changes to the company’s senior management.

S&A is also exploring the possibility of selling the farm with the intention of leasing it back to support the reduced soft fruit business.

“Having listened carefully to what local people have to say, it seems that it is the scale of our operations in the county that is the main concern,”

said S&A’s new managing director, Frank Green.

“For this reason, we want to further consolidate our activities in Herefordshire, to enhance sustainability of the business and meet the expectations of local people.

“This has resulted in us reviewing our planning applications and taking the decision to significantly reduce the scale of our operations at Brierley.”

In June, the company was refused permission to house almost 1,000 migrant workers at the farm.

The planned changes, announced yesterday (Wednesday), will see workers’ accommodation reduced from a capacity of 1,000 to 500, and the number of hectares of polytunnels dropping to 71 by next year, one fifth of the amount there were two years ago.

“Although a reduced scale of operations in Herefordshire brings a number of benefits, it does have inevitable implications regarding the number of employees we need,” added Mr Green.

“We will shortly be consulting with our staff on this matter and will be entering into discussions regarding redundancies.”

The firm has said it will hold drop-in sessions for residents in the area over the coming weeks so that local people can learn more about the plans.