Heron sheds jobs but has plans to expand

FROZEN FOOD CHAIN TARGETS NEW LOCATIONS

- By TOM KEIGHLEY

FROZEN food chain Heron has shed more about 250 staff in shops and across its warehouses over the past year though it is planning to expand with new stores.

New accounts for the Hull-founded business show its workforce dropped to 5,519 in its last financial year.

The budget chain, which began life as Grindells Butchers on the city's Holderness Road in the late 1970s and now has a network of more than 340 sites, has set a target of opening 10 new stores in its current financial year, which began at the end of March, and says the moves will create jobs.

The company says it wants to expand in the North and the Midlands, though is yet to give locations.

Bosses say they want to “push out” into new areas when the right sites can be found, and that some existing shops might be relocated to better, often larger locations.