Arla foods said the purchase assured the future operations at its Hatfield site and the continuation of service to its customers.
Arla will take over the lease of the Hatfield warehouse and bring in-house all logistics operations related to those services previously provided by PCL.
As part of the acquisition, 470 PCL employees are expected to transfer to Arla. In addition to the lease of the Hatfield site, assets currently used in operation of the site will also transfer.
The acquisition has also brought forward the timeline for Arla’s transfer of its Bristol operations, which, following notice given to PCL last year and a competitive tender process, were awarded to UK company Gist. The milk volume will transfer to Gist, from March 6, 2020.
Arla Foods UK MD Ash Amirahmadi, said, “Bringing our Hatfield operations in house will allow us to focus on delivering the best possible service to our customers. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues at the Hatfield site and we will work hard to maintain a smooth and seamless transition for our customers throughout this process.”