A glimmer of hope
Thanks to Chris Haden for providing us with the following update.
icBirmingham is reporting that the Birmingham city council is “cautiously optimistic” about retaining the Aston HP Sauce factory after meeting with HP Foods parent company Heinz.
Ken Hardeman, cabinet member for regeneration, who chaired last night’s meeting, insisted it was not a foregone conclusion Heinz would go ahead with its threat to close the Aston Cross factory and move production to Holland.
Coun Hardeman confirmed discussions with the Government Office for the West Midlands, Advantage West Midlands and the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry would continue in an attempt to identify cash grants that might be used to offer Heinz an alternative site in Birmingham.
He said: “They (Heinz) looked at a lot of different options but the bottom line as far as they are concerned is that the economic case does not support continuing at the existing factory.”
This news follows the launch of a new “Save Our Sauce” campaign website in recent weeks by Birmingham businessmen aiming to help keep HP Sauce production at the Aston factory. I encourage everyone to visit and pledge support! The BBC has some additional (video) coverage of the “Save Our Sauce” campaign here.
