{"id":60073,"date":"2025-08-03T15:13:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T15:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/workers-in-limbo-as-vivergo-fuels-plant-takes-final-delivery\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T15:13:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T15:13:48","slug":"workers-in-limbo-as-vivergo-fuels-plant-takes-final-delivery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/workers-in-limbo-as-vivergo-fuels-plant-takes-final-delivery\/","title":{"rendered":"Workers ‘in limbo’ as Vivergo Fuels plant takes final delivery"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Paul Murphy & Holly Phillips<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Stacey Monkman says it is difficult to maintain morale on the site<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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At a fuel plant near Hull, 20 tonnes of wheat are being poured from a lorry into storage, ready to be turned into ethanol \u2013 a type of alcohol that, when blended with petrol, reduces emissions. <\/p>\n

But this week’s delivery, grown in the fields of Lincolnshire, is the last one on order for Vivergo Fuels.<\/p>\n

The owners of the UK’s largest bioethanol plant, at Saltend, say its future is in doubt following a government decision to end a 19% tariff<\/a> on US imports of the fuel as part of the recent UK-US trade deal.<\/p>\n

Last month, Vivergo, which is owned by Associated British Foods (ABF), began consulting staff about shutting down the plant due to the uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Managers are calling for financial help from ministers. Without it, they say production at the site \u2013 which employs more than 160 people \u2013 may halt before 13 September. <\/p>\n

They estimate about 4,500 jobs in the supply chain will be affected, including the farmers who grow the wheat and the truck drivers who transport it.<\/p>\n

The government says it is in formal discussions with the company and wants to find “a way forward that protects supply chains, jobs and livelihoods”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nick Smalley oversees production at the Vivergo plant<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Stacey Monkman, who has worked at Vivergo for three years in the commercial and logistics departments, says it has been difficult to keep up morale.<\/p>\n

“We’re motivated because we’ve still got our jobs to do, but it’s very unsettling.<\/p>\n

“Being in limbo and waiting, not knowing which way it’s going to go, it’s hard,” she says.<\/p>\n

“We’ve all got families, we’ve all got bills to pay… a lot rides on it for us.”<\/p>\n

Production manager Nick Smalley began as an apprentice and now manages about 65 people at the refinery. <\/p>\n

“It’s really frustrating that these decisions are being made and we have no influence over them,” he says. <\/p>\n

“I care deeply about the team that I have here, I want a bright future for all of those people. We really need quick action now, it’s getting to crisis point.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Aghaul boss Mike Green is among suppliers who rely on the site for business<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Production at Saltend had already been cut due to low bioethanol prices, with ABF initially raising the prospect of closure<\/a> in April. The trade deal followed in May. <\/p>\n

It is not only Vivergo employees who are affected. The plant buys more than a million tonnes of British wheat each year from more than 4,000 farms and says it has purchased from 12,000 individual farms over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Farmer Matt Pickering, of Pickering and Sons, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, sold the last load of wheat to Vivergo.<\/p>\n

“We struggle with the quality of our land type, so we tend to go for out-and-out bulk volume shed fillers,” he says. <\/p>\n

“Vivergo has been a fantastic home for us to sell feed wheat into.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Aghaul Limited, which transported the final wheat load to the plant, is among transport companies feeling the blow.<\/p>\n

Managing director Mike Green believes the potential loss of the contract will have a significant “knock-on effect” for his haulage business. <\/p>\n

“The government needs to have a look at this because it doesn’t just affect me, there’s a humongous amount of people that it’s going to affect.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Vivergo Fuels site on the north bank of the Humber<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Ben Hackett, the managing director of Vivergo, describes the plant as a “key foundation on the whole green economy”. <\/p>\n

Removing the tariff on US imports destroyed the market, he argues.<\/p>\n

“The customers have gone overnight. That’s given us a real crisis. We cannot afford to operate this facility as a loss,” he adds.<\/p>\n

Mr Hackett wrote to growers earlier this year explaining that the plant will only be able to honour existing contractual obligations for wheat purchases while the uncertainty continues.<\/p>\n

He has urged the government to support bioethanol production by creating a clear framework in order to boost demand, in addition to providing financial help during the transition.<\/p>\n

“We are weeks at most away from Associated British Foods having to make a decision on the viability of the business,” he says. <\/p>\n

“This site could very well close unless the government takes action.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Way forward’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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A government spokesperson said the bioethanol industry had been facing “significant challenges” for some time and ministers were working with Vivergo on a plan to protect jobs and the supply chain.<\/p>\n

Engagement with the companies continued “at pace” and external consultants had been brought in to help.<\/p>\n

“We recognise this is a concerning time for workers and their families which is why we entered into formal discussions with the company on potential financial support last month,” the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n

“We will continue to take proactive steps to address the long-standing challenges the company faces and remain committed to working closely with them throughout this period to present a plan for a way forward that protects supply chains, jobs and livelihoods.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Paul Murphy & Holly Phillips BBC News BBC Stacey Monkman says it is difficult to maintain morale on the site At a fuel plant near Hull, 20 tonnes of wheat are being poured from a lorry into storage, ready to be turned into ethanol \u2013 a type of alcohol that, when blended with petrol, reduces […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46],"tags":[5346,856,2045,4509,97,542,18029,1443],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60073"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60075,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60073\/revisions\/60075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}