Latest news with #DarrenThomas
7NEWS
30-07-2025
- Business
- 7NEWS
Hundreds to be affected by Thomas Foods' ‘immediate' shutdown of Adelaide Hills factory
One of Australia's biggest meat processors has shut down its operations at an Adelaide Hills factory, with hundreds of meat workers stood down 'indefinitely' without pay. Workers were due to return to Thomas Foods International (TFI) Lobethal meatworks on Monday, after a routine three-week winter annual leave. However, on Friday they were told Thomas Foods was not re-opening the factory. Thomas Foods attributed the shutdown to the drought but said most workers would be offered alternative positions. 'Thomas Foods International is reducing its processing capacity in South Australia due to the well-documented drought in South Australia and lower livestock supply,' it told 'The drought has sharply decreased sheep supply with recovery not expected before 2027, despite recent rainfall. 'Production workers were notified on Friday and it is envisaged that most workers will be utilised under new working arrangements. 'Employees will be offered work at its other sites if not required at Lobethal.' The closest meat processing factory is the newly rebuilt Murray Bridge factory almost an hour away from the Lobethal factory. In 2018, a fire destroyed the Murray Bridge processing works, with the state and federal government stepping in at the time to invest $24 million to rebuild the factory on a new site about 10km from the centre of Murray Bridge. South Australian Independent Member for Kavel Dan Cregan said 'hundreds' of people had been impacted by the Lobethal factory shutdown. 'Thomas Foods' decision to stand down hundreds of workers at Lobethal is hitting our community hard,' he said in a post on social media. 'We need certainty from TFI about its plans at Lobethal.' TFI owner Chris Thomas is currently South Australia's richest person with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion. Thomas Foods International, started by Thomas in 1988 and now run by his son Darren Thomas, had record sales revenue of $3.29 billion last year to make it the 14th largest private company by income in Australia. Darren Thomas recently told Stock Journal that recent lifting of a ban on US imported beef would have little to no impact on TFI and the Australian beef industry. TFI has processing plants in South Australia, NSW and Victoria and offices and operations in the US, Asia and Europe. It employs more than 3000 people with a turnover $3 billion annually. Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU) SA branch secretary Justin Smith said the decision to close Lobethal was 'very disappointing'. 'It's also a very hard time particularly now that they've had three weeks off,' he told radio station 5MU on Tuesday. 'In the meat industry we have a thing called regular daily hire and shutdowns due to shortages of stock,' he said '(The workers) are definitely still employed but they can be stood down if the company struggles to find livestock. 'I believe Thomas Foods is in this sort of area where they do want to be working, they do want to be producing product but if the sheep aren't there ... there's not much more they can do and unfortunately, it's the workers who pay the price.'
BBC News
30-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Jersey 'will learn' from World Cup qualifying losses
Jersey head coach Darren Thomas said his side's young players will learn from their failure to reach the next stage of qualifying for the T20 World island's women - who were the second-highest ranked side in the six-team event in Rome - finished third after three defeats from their five meant they were unable to win promotion from European Division Two of the World Cup qualifiers for the second successive campaign. Jersey lost their opening two matches against Italy and Germany - who went on to qualify - before being defeated by Sweden in their final game on Thursday. In particular, Jersey's top order batters struggled at times, but Thomas said the exposure they got over the week will be beneficial for their careers."We can't forget these girls are young. They are young in cricketing experience and they're young in age as well," he told BBC Sport. "They've had experience of Jersey cricket for a little while, but ultimately in cricketing terms they're not particularly experienced, so putting on a lot of ownership on their wickets, they've got to manage a lot of pressure."They either manage it freely or they struggle sometimes to soak it up, and on a couple of occasions in this tournament they struggled to soak it up, but on a couple of occasions they played freely and brilliantly."He added: "You're talking about two 19-year-olds, one 18-year-old, and a 20-year-old in the top four."Every cricketing experience for these girls is essentially going to benefit them in the years to come."I still think you're going to see their best cricket in maybe two to three years' time where they're more mature in their ways, they're more educated in the game, and they're making more calculated decisions in the middle, because they've certainly got the appetite to play the game, that's for sure."
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jersey pick squad for T20 World Cup qualifiers
Jersey have picked their squad for their Women's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier tournament in Italy. The Division Two event sees the top two sides from six taking part promoted to the top tier of qualifying in the Netherlands in August. Jersey make one change from the squad that impressed in Cyprus last month where they won all six warm-up matches as Kate Follain makes her international debut. Jersey face hosts Italy on Saturday in their opening game before taking on Germany, Spain, the Isle of Man and Sweden in the round-robin event. "The squad has prepared really well over the winter and we're coming into this tournament on the back of some strong pre-season fixtures, which has given us confidence," head coach Darren Thomas said. "It's a young group with lots of potential - they're settled, know each other well, and we've built a good team dynamic. "As their exposure to competitive cricket continues to grow, the experience will stand them in good stead as we head into the European Qualifier." Jersey squad: Chloe Greechan (capt), Mia Maguire (wkpr), Aimee Aikenhead, Olivia Bastin, Kate Follain, Lily Greig, Nia Greig, Georgia Mallet, Analise Merritt, Annie Mossop, Trinity Smith, Tallulah Spry, Florence Tanguy, Grace Wetherall.
South Wales Argus
17-05-2025
- Health
- South Wales Argus
Newport construction team receives charity wellbeing talk
The initiative was a collaboration between partnerships developer Lovell and mental health charity Signposted Cymru. The charity, which focuses on immediate intervention for those struggling with mental health issues, provided the team working on the Ringland Regeneration project with a session on improving mental health. Charity founder Darren Thomas addressed 60 employees and contractors. Mr Thomas said: "It was an honour to be invited to speak at the Ringland Regeneration project as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. "The conversation around mental health is more important than ever, and Lovell's commitment to supporting their workforce and the wider community is genuinely commendable." Gemma Clissett, regional partnerships director at Lovell, said: "At Lovell, we take positive mental health very seriously and are always finding ways to improve the support we offer. "We care deeply about our employees and contractors, and hope they feel reassured knowing they can turn to our mental health first aiders, or any of the dedicated charities we work with, should they ever need to." Lovell donated £200 to the charity as a thank you for the talk. This brings the total of funds raised for Signposted Cymru to £4,715.
