FINSBURY Foods, whose Scottish operations employ about 1,600 people, has warned of a trading slowdown amid spiralling ingredient costs.
But the firm yesterday issued assurances that it was not planning job cuts as a result of the escalating costs and added that an extra 50 jobs were set to be created at its Bathgate factory.
The firm is to invest £2 million in its artisan breads u
nit, predominantly at its Bathgate plant. It also has a factory in Lanarkshire.
Finsbury, which makes bakery products for major supermarket chains, said yesterday it had faced a 10 per cent increase in the cost of staples such as wheat, dairy products and eggs during the past year.
The company's shares fell 4 per cent yesterday as chief executive David Brooks said he expected the difficult conditions to continue for "the next 12 to 18 months", with earnings growth likely to be slower than achieved recently.
Brooks told The Scotsman the firm had passed on the higher costs to its customers, although he added that the price increases would not fully filter through until later in the year, as the "speed of increase was unprecedented".
He said that the Bathgate factory, which houses subsidiary UCB, had had a "phenomenal" performance since it reopened last July following an eight-month closure because of a major fire.
Brooks said: "We are delighted with UCB's performance. The investment we are to make in artisan bread will … create around 50 extra jobs. We are a company that is continuing to expand."
At Finsbury's Lightbody operation in Lanarkshire, which was acquired last year, sales grew 17 per cent year-on-year.
Brooks said the firm's key growth market was healthier products, such as its "free from" range, as well as premium and celebration products.
Finsbury, which has licensing partnerships with WeightWatchers, Thorntons, Disney and Nestlé, has nearly 3,000 staff UK-wide.
The full article contains 323 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
