Second blow to farming company

Dozens of jobs are at risk at a Lincolnshire grower after it lost a second major contract.

Univeg, at Kirton, near Boston, has confirmed there will be redundancies after it lost a second big supermarket customer in the space of two weeks.

First Sainsbury's and now Waitrose have ended their contracts with the firm, which are thought to make up the bulk of company's work.

Univeg said it would continue, but on a "significantly reduced scale".

It's bad news for Kirton, it's bad news for Boston and it's bad news for the industry Roger Welberry, National Farmers' Union

It added that it deeply regretted redundancies would be necessary to sustain the company's future.

The company said it was pursuing opportunities to replace the lost business and was keeping its workforce informed, adding that management were heartened by the support and commitment of staff.

It is believed more than 100 people work at Univeg and that the supermarket contracts will end in June.

The Chairman of the National Farmers' Union Holland Branch, Roger Welberry, is concerned for the future of the industry.

He said: "It's bad news for Kirton, it's bad news for Boston and it's bad news for the industry.

"I just think it rings alarm bells that it can happen to a big company like Univeg and major accounts with supermarkets, with the power they have.

"You never know what could happen next, it is a worrying time."