Closure looms for Trafford Park’s Kellogg’s factory

Kellanova, the parent company of the cereal manufacturer, is looking to shut down the plant in 2026.

Kellanova said that 360 jobs are at risk. The company has begun a consultation with those who work in the factory and their union representatives about next steps for the Trafford Park plant, which sits on land Kellanova owns according to HM Land Registry.

Chris Silcock, UK managing director at Kellanova, emphasised that the decision to close was not made because of the employees.

“We know generations of families have worked at our Trafford Park site, and the proposal we are announcing today has nothing to do with the dedication of the outstanding people who work there,” he said.

Instead, he placed the blame on the site’s age.

Silcock said: “…We can’t escape the fact the site opened in 1938.  It’s laid out in a way that made sense in the 1930s, with food travelling up and down six floors to be made.

“With changes in industrial design and technology, you just wouldn’t lay out a factory like that nowadays,” he said.

“What’s more we only use half the space in the buildings and the investment required to maintain the factory in the coming years is simply not viable.”

Those factors meant that Kellanova was no longer interested in a long-term future for the factory.

Trafford Council Leader Cllr Tom Ross described the announcement of the plant’s closure as “extremely disappointing” and “a real blow for everyone connected to the business and the local economy”.

He added that the local authority will be looking to help when it comes to plans for the factory’s future.

“We will continue the dialogue with Kellogg’s on their plans for the Trafford Park factory and will work closely with the senior management, their staff and other key partners to provide whatever help we can in the coming months,” Ross said.

The 1,180-acre Trafford Park is a key source of employment in Trafford, with more than 1,300 businesses calling it home. The district has also been a hive of development activity, with Russell WBHO starting work on its £14m warehouse scheme at Ashburton Point in December last year and Chancerygate and Northwood Urban Logistics’ 130,340 industrial project off Dock Road set to finish this winter.

Kellanova’s 520-strong office in MediaCity is not impacted by the Trafford Park closure. Neither is its factories in Wrexham or St Helens.