Seema Malhotra MP, the Member of Parliament for Feltham and Heston, has called for everything possible to be done to secure a future for the Müller plant in Hanworth. The site is one of the country’s largest glass bottle milk factories and was originally founded in 1847. 

The local MP has met with Müller businesses leaders following the announcement of the sale of the Milk & More doorstep delivery business to Freshways. The plant in Hanworth is a bottling site which supplies 31 Milk & More distribution centres from which customers are directly supplied.  

The plant is currently working to fulfil orders over the busy Christmas period. From the end of January, Freshways will no longer be buying bottled milk from the Hanworth site. Issues facing the site have been compounded by the high costs of energy and rising costs of glass production.  

Malhotra said, “The announcement at this time and the speed with which things are moving has come as a huge shock for the employees and the local community. The takeover of the business in 2017 by Müller at a difficult time was very positively received and has made such a difference over the last six years. I hope that there can be a sustainable future found for this site, which has been a successful facility at the heart of our dairy supply chain. Over 60 local people are employed at the site, some of whom have worked there for over 30 years and seen the business through so many changes.”  

“I will be visiting the site again early in the new year to meet with management and unions on what could be possible for the future on this site and opportunities for the dedicated workforce going forward.”   

A 45 day statutory consultation is currently underway, with ongoing meetings between Müller, unions and workforce.