Mothballed Orchard House factory in Corby to be re-opened amid closure of Gateshead plant

Orchard House Foods is to reopen its mothballed Corby factory after the announcement that it is to shut its Gateshead operation with the loss of 430 jobs.

It’s thought that more than 100 jobs will be created locally when the Manton Road firm reopens its third Corby plant that was put out of action in 2018.

The firm announced this morning (Thursday, August 18) that it is to ‘consolidate’ its operations to its Corby site by the end of November. Orchard House already employs about 500 people in Corby.

It comes after the company was sold in a £25m deal last January.

The business, which was founded in Corby in 1985, makes drinks, jellies, yoghurts, compotes and granolas for major retailers, supermarkets and restaurants at its Earlstrees Industrial Estate base. The additional site will be used to produce breakfast and dessert items.

It was the first UK company to produce freshly-squeezed orange juice for sale to the public.

The town is already the UK centre for food manufacturing and has a number of fruit preparation firms. It’s thought the town’s motivated and highly-trained workforce was a factor in the relocation – with a lack of available staff in the north east cited as one of the reasons.

Orchard House has started a consultation process with affected colleagues with up to 430 jobs at risk of redundancy. Colleagues based in Gateshead interested in relocating will be offered support, or helped to find alternative employment in the local area.

The company has made significant investments in its Gateshead site in a sustained effort to turn around its performance, but says the site is continuing to make losses that make it commercially unviable. Production has suffered from the rapidly rising costs of food, labour, energy and transport and an inability to recruit enough staff.

Chief executive Steve Corby said: “We understand that this is an incredibly difficult situation for our employees, and our priority now is to ensure that we do everything we can to support them.

“Despite making significant investments in our Gateshead facility over a considerable period in an effort to turn around its financial performance, it is unfortunately still making losses that make it unsustainable over the long-term.

“As such, we believe that the future of the business lies in consolidation, so we are starting a review process in consultation with our staff and proposing to amalgamate production from our Gateshead site at our other fruit processing facility in Corby.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly and comes off the back of an incredibly challenging period for the sector. Like many other businesses across the UK, we have been suffering from a series of economic and business challenges. They include rising energy, raw material, transport and labour costs. There has also been a shortage of available staff to work at our Gateshead site.”

About Orchard Foods?

Orchard House Foods was founded in 1985 in Corby and has four sites - three in Corby on the Earlstrees Industrial Estate and one in Gateshead.

The company currently employs around 1,000 permanent colleagues across its Corby and Gateshead sites, depending on demand. During peak seasons, Orchard House Foods recruit up to an additional 500 temporary workers.

One of the three sites in Corby was mothballed in September 2018 and will subsequently reopen once the Gateshead closure is complete and equipment is transferred.

The Gateshead site has been in operation as Paradise Foods Ltd since 2005, Paradise Foods (Gateshead) was wound up in June 2016 and ownership transferred to Orchard House Foods.

Orchard House Foods was the first company in the UK to commercialise freshly-squeezed orange juice.

Previous customers have included Marks & Spencer, Pret a Manger, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

UK-based turnaround specialist Elaghmore bought the company from Hain Celestial in January 2021 for £25m.

Since buying the business, Elaghmore has invested £6m in the Gateshead site.