LONDON, January 8 /PRNewswire/ --     Over 800 Unite Fox's biscuit workers are determined to do 'everything
they can' to make sure their town of Uttoxeter is chosen for the brand's new
'super-site' as a three month wait until the plant's future is made clear
begins.

Hundreds of local jobs depend on the Uttoxeter site being chosen as Fox's
flagship factory in the UK. The site is also one of the last major employers
in the area.

Launching the Unite official online petition today (Thursday) and urging
the people of Uttoxeter to show their full support for the factory and its
workers by signing it, Unite National Secretary, Jennie Formby, said: "The
campaign to save Fox's at Uttoxeter has been magnificent so far but now we
must take the fight to the next level. This will be helped by our new online
petition, the only official petition to save Fox's Uttoxeter, together with
the launch of the new website at http://www.unitetheunion.org.uk.

"We need as many people as possible to go online and sign up to the
petition to demonstrate the massive strength of feeling on this issue.

"The Uttoxeter factory must be saved. So many Unite members and their
family members before them have given so many years of loyal service. This
factory also has a bright future ahead because this workforce is determined
to make it so.

"But make no mistake - the closure of this site will be catastrophic to
the local economy and community."

Local MP, Janet Dean, who has helped to lead the campaign from the start,
said: "Generations of local people have worked for Fox's biscuits and it is
vital for the welfare of the town that we retain Fox's, one of the few
remaining major employers in the area.

"Unemployment levels have doubled in this area over recent times to give
us one of the highest jobless rates in the West Midlands. The Unite campaign
and this official petition will be a considerable boost in the fight to save
the Uttoxeter site from closing."

The management at Fox's Biscuits is expected to make a decision on the
Uttoxeter plant's future in March 2009.

Notes:

Background - a brief history of Fox's Uttoxeter factory

In 1924 Samuel Elkes opened a small teacake shop at No.1 High Street,
Uttoxeter. The family business grew and prospered and by 1928 a small factory
had been opened on the Dove Valley Bakeries site. Elkes was to remain a
family concern for nearly 50 years until 1973 when the factory was sold to
the Adams Food Group, a subsidiary of the Irish Dairy Board.

In 1986 the business was sold to Northern Foods plc. Since that takeover,
Elkes saw a period of sustained change. Staff numbers rose, 24 hour and
weekend production was introduced and significant increases in biscuit output
were achieved.

In 1996 Elkes opened a new distribution centre on the outskirts of the
town, freeing space on the Dove Valley site for future development and in
1998/1999 a significant investment was made to provide an improved
manufacturing facility for variety packs and cream biscuits.

In November 2003 Elkes merged with the Fox's Biscuits sites in Batley and
Kirkham. In January 2004 Elkes took on its new identity of Fox's Biscuits.

Northern Foods has now announced that they wanted to restructure the
business onto just two sites, and they are looking to create a new 'super
factory' either by demolishing the existing Batley factory and replacing it
with a new one, or by extending and updating the Uttoxeter site.

Visit the Unite website to sign the new petition and receive regular
updates at:
http://www.unitetheunion.org.uk/campaign-article.php?iCampaignId=32