Arena Magazine 2004 Issue 2

Recipe for success

Arena dropped in at the site to meet with the reps who put the union into United Biscuits.

Next time you open a packet of biscuits the chances are it will have come from the massive United Biscuits site in Harlesden, London.

The 102 year-old manufacturing plant is going from strength to strength with a recent £10 million investment boost and plans for 200 more jobs.

The expansion will mean more opportunities for Usdaw's team of reps to sign up new recruits. Senior rep Yaw Poku is confident they can meet the challenge. "It's all systems go here at the moment," he said. "The introduction of mini cheddars into the site has already begun and will make us an even bigger employer. We'll be doing all we can to deliver the benefits of Usdaw membership to the workers."

Poku's fellow reps are Geraldine O'Sullivan and Suleman Khan who between them have 61 years' service at Harlesden. Mir and Hussain are the night shift reps. "There has been massive changes at the site while I've been here," said Geraldine. "We used to manufacture cakes in the '70s, but that's gone," she said. "At one time we had around 3,000 people working here."

Huge investment has seen extensive automation and the workforce is thinly spread at the 12 acre site. Eight production lines are operated 24/7 by teams across three shifts. The night shift is permanent while other staff alternate between 6am-2pm and 10pm-6am shifts. Weekend overtime is on a voluntary basis and attracts premium rates.

The recent wage round saw the membership accept an inflation-busting two-year deal with 3.3 per cent this year and a guaranteed minimum of three per cent for 2005.

While consolidated hourly rates at the site vary across grades and shifts, the site is firmly placed within the top pay bracket in the area, which is popular with other food manufacturers, and who between them employ around 11,000 people.

"This is a good place to work," said Khan. "It's friendly, people work together and I think the workers are proud they work for such a good employer, producing popular brands."

Staff turnover is an impressive one per cent. Long service awards of 25 years are a regular cause for celebration with around 30 every year. Attendance was measured at 96 per cent for last year. Figures which impressed national officer Bill Snell.

"This site has to be one of the best, if not the best, for terms and conditions in food manufacturing," he said. "The reps are doing a great job and remember there is a wide ethnic mix at the factory, with around 25 different nationalities. This can make recruitment and organisation difficult, but the Harlesden reps have got it wrapped up."

Safety and hygiene rank highly on site with strict codes on accident prevention and cleanliness in place. Usdaw's trio double up as safety reps and are part of the commitment to safety looked after by the site safety steering group. The accident rate is low and improving on a yearly basis.

The on site learning centre is set to make inroads into the workforce once the computers are updated and a team of learning reps are in place.

Site manager Andy Readshaw is a firm advocate of learning and development and keen to put UB at the heart of the local community. "We are involved in a number of initiatives with local colleges, schools, employment agencies and others to attract workers to the site," he said. "We also want to break down the resistance to manufacturing which has grown over the years.

"We regularly have groups of schoolchildren in to tour the site, we are developing our own NVQ in food technology and we are aiming to promote a modern apprenticeship programme. This contact with the local community has paid off and we're looking to expand it."

The Harlesden site:

• Produces around 80,000 tonnes of biscuits a year. (Mini Cheddars will see this rise to more than 100,000 tonnes).

• Supplies more than 74,000 tonnes for the domestic market - 93 per cent of the output. Products are exported to among other places, China, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

• Manufactures goods with a net sales value of more than £100 million.

• Has around £55 million worth of equipment.

• Has around 400 employees.

• Operates eight production lines.

• Manufactures 22 million biscuits a day.

• Celebrated its centenary in 2002.

• Usdaw also has members at the UB sites in Manchester and Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Did you know?

• Usdaw has more than 27,000 members employed in food manufacturing across the Uk and across a number of famous companies.

• They include workers producing worldwide brands like McVitie's, Kelloggs, Nestle and Weetabix.

• Other agreements include: Scotbeef, Twinings, Peter's Food Services, Jus-Rol, Portable Foods, Princes Foods, Grampian Country Pork, Kettle Produce, Coca-Cola, British Bakeries, OP Chocolates, Northern Foods, F Duerr, Golden Wonder and others.

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© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
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