Community rallies to help Fogarty's workers

Many were left shocked after staff were told last Monday that the firm was going into administration and they no longer had jobs.

Since then, organisations including Boston Borough Council, as well as local firms such as Freshtime and Pilgrim, have offered to help and support those affected.

And it looks like at least some of those affected may have already found work as a result of this support.

David Shamma, regional organiser for the GMB, said the community had really come together to try and help those affected.

But he said the union’s focus now was on getting redundancy payments for those who had lost their jobs and investigate whether there had been a failure to properly consult on the job losses.

A recruitment event held at Freshtime yesterday, aimed particularly at those affected by the Fogarty’s closure, proved to be a busy event, and the firm hopes to take on some of those who lost jobs on the back of it.

Jennie Beasley, Freshtime’s Head of HR, said: “The closure of Fogarty has caused a huge blow to Boston and we understand the upset and stress it has caused among its workforce.

“As another of Boston’s largest employers, we are keen to help out where possible.”

She said they had seen about 13 people yesterday and hoped to make some offers on the back of that.

And Boston’s Pilgrim Foods is hosting a drop-in coffee morning today (Wednesday) to discuss jobs they have available from 9am until 11am. More details on the firm’s Facebook page.

Boston Council hosted a number of support sessions for Fogarty’s workers last week to help advice those who had lost jobs on their options.