Kellogg's Trafford Park closure plan was huge shock, leader says

About a million boxes of cereal are made at the Trafford Park factory each day

An announcement by Kellogg's that it sees no future for a factory opened in 1938 was a "huge shock", a council leader said.

Council leader Tom Ross told Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) he was "sure" the firm would explore all options for the Trafford Park site.

Mayor Andy Burnham said political leaders hoped "to keep them [Kellogg's] in Trafford".

Parent company Kellonova said the city-region "would remain its British home".

About 250 staff at its MediaCity office were unaffected by the announcement although 360 jobs at Trafford Park were set to go.

Kellanova's UK managing director, Chris Silcock, said on Thursday: "We can't escape the fact the site opened in 1938."

He said the layout of the site "made sense in the 1930s", but changes in industrial design meant "you just wouldn't lay out a factory like that nowadays".

"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," he added.

The site was one of the largest food manufacturing facilities in Europe when it was built

Mr Ross, Labour leader of Trafford Council, told a GMCA meeting earlier the company had been a "good employer and neighbour in the Trafford Park and Stretford area for almost a century and a valued strategic partner in Trafford for the five decades we have existed as a borough".

"There is a great deal of attachment and pride in the local community to the factory and its presence on the skyline for many, many years," he said.

"It's fair to say that this news was a huge shock yesterday and I know our first thoughts are with the employees, from people who have worked in the factory for decades, to apprentices starting on their career paths."

Mr Ross told Trafford Town Hall a consultation was under way and the local authority was "on standby to support employees".

Mr Burnham added the GMCA was "engaged" in discussions with the company.