PepsiCo has announced plans to restructure its operations at Walkers’ key manufacturing sites, sparking concerns over potential job losses. The company is consulting on changes at its Leicester, Coventry, Lincoln, and Skelmersdale facilities, but the number of jobs affected remains unclear.
PepsiCo confirmed that no decisions would be made without consulting employees and their representatives. The company emphasized that the restructuring aimed to align its UK operations with the structure of other international sites, improving operational efficiency and technical capabilities.
The changes come after a series of recent investments in Walkers’ facilities, including £24m in Lincoln, £58m in Leicester, and £13m in Coventry, to enhance production capacity and meet growing consumer demand. These investments underscore PepsiCo’s ongoing commitment to its UK operations, despite the proposed changes to its workforce.
Unite, the union representing workers, has vowed to protect jobs during the consultation process, with plans to negotiate against compulsory redundancies and secure fair severance packages. The union’s involvement signals the significant impact these restructuring efforts could have on the workforce across the affected sites.
A PepsiCo UK spokesperson said: “We recently told our teams that we will be consulting on proposed changes to our operational structure, affecting a proportion of employees at our snacks manufacturing sites in the UK. No decisions will be made without first consulting affected employees and their representatives. Our priority is providing support for our people throughout this process.
“The changes being proposed are intended to bring our UK sites in line with a different operating structure we have had success with at some of our other international sites, leading to better ways of working and increased technical capabilities.”
