BRACKLEY, ENGLAND — One of the largest poultry producers in the United Kingdom, Avara Foods, announced a proposal to close its Newent, England, facility in the spring of 2024.

The company cited inflationary pressure in fuel, commodities and labor the past couple of years as the source of its proposal.

“While some price increases have been achieved, they have not been sufficient to mitigate the full impact of rising costs on our margins,” Avara said in its announcement. “In today’s trading environment, sustainable businesses must provide a competitive offer to consumers and sufficient margin to allow reinvestment in the food supply chain. These can only be achieved if inflation can be sufficiently offset and that, in turn, demands excellent productivity and efficiency.”

While no final decisions have been made, Avara plans to begin a collective consultation process with affected individuals in the coming days for further review.

Before the announcement, the company had already begun taking steps to address the market difficulties. In the fall, Avara closed its Abergavenny facility.

The company said it “recognized the need to take further action to continue to deliver a fifth of UK produced chicken every week, through the most efficient operational footprint.”

The company believes the Newent closure would allow for improved investments in other facilities to create efficiency across its poultry processing operations.