Union representatives said Kerry Foods in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, turned into the town’s biggest agency.
It introduced the closure on Monday, the result, in keeping with Unite the Union, of the enterprise losing a contract to deliver prepared-made meals to Tesco.
Kerry Foods stated its priority turned into to “aid all personnel affected” and could meet with Unite on Fiday.
Operations would stop from the begin of September, a spokesperson said.
Unite’s local officer Rick Coyle said the closure was “a crushing blow for the local economic system”.
“The problem going ahead is that there are not that many nicely-paid jobs in Burton and the location to update those so as to be misplaced on the stop of August,” he said.
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Unite has been in contact with brewer Molson Coors, the metropolis’s 2d biggest corporation, to “discover employment opportunities there”, Mr Coyle said.
Mr Coyle envisioned “ninety% of the work within the manufacturing facility” become manufacturing for Tesco and there has been no longer enough other paintings to maintain the manufacturing facility after the end of the contract with the grocery store large.
Kerry Foods – which has 18 factories throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom – held the settlement with Tesco for 19 years earlier than it went to another dealer in October.
Mr Coyle said workers have been “heartbroken” after they have been told the information on Monday and “the looks on humans’s faces is not some thing I’ll forget about”.
Management had assured workforce that they had tried to keep the factory, he brought.
Burton’s Conservative MP Andrew Griffiths stated he changed into “disenchanted and saddened” to pay attention of the closure.
“This will come as a exceptional surprise to all employees at the web site who have provided dedicated service, and this closure isn’t any manner their fault,” he said.
He said deliberate to satisfy Business Secretary Greg Clark later on Tuesday and was hoping to elevate the closure in the House of Commons to “minimise the impact of this very unhappy news”.
