Brexit blamed for 260 job losses as UK food supplier Southern Salads collapses into administration

Brexit has been blamed for around 260 people losing their jobs after a salad supplier collapsed into administration

Family-run Southern Salads, based in Tonbridge, Kent, said the fall in the pound’s value since last June’s referendum vote had been too much for the company to bear.

The devalued currency has made imports more expensive, cutting into the margins of many British businesses and making some unsustainable. One pound bought just over €1.30 on the eve of the vote, compared to just €1.09 now.

Southern Salads ceased trading “with immediate effect” on Wednesday after 31 years supplying local restaurants and supermarkets.

The company relied on European companies for its supplies and had invested heavily in new facilities in the hope of expansion but this did not materialise.

Ian Vickers, a partner at administrators FRP advisory told local news outlet Kent Live that Southern Salads had faced “an unprecedented pressure on cash flow” in the wake of the Brexit vote.

A rescue package had not been possible, “despite [the company] successfully producing over 50 tonnes of salad per day for its array of customers”, he said, adding that the main priority was to assist those who had been made redundant

Local Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat said the job losses were an unsurprising result of Brexit.

“I campaigned very actively for Remain because this is exactly what I expected, and I'm very sorry that it has happened."

“This is an important Tonbridge employer that was bringing money into Tonbridge and supporting many Tonbridge community events, so I'm very sorry to see it go,” he said.