Hundreds of jobs are set to vanish in Nelson with several businesses proposing closures, including two factories, a sawmill and a retailer.

The city “is just feeling punch-drunk from bad news after bad news”, said the Mayor of Nelson, Dr Nick Smith.

“That is a massive hit to our employment market. The impact is a big worry.”

Smith told NZME that Nelson’s economy was in a “hole”.

“It raises real tough questions for us regional leaders about how we can get our economy out of this hole. The immediate priority is providing support for the staff who are affected.”

The closure of Carter Holt Harvey’s Eves Valley sawmill could kill 142 jobs.

The closure of Sealord’s coated fish factory could see 79 jobs gone.

A further 65 jobs could go at the Griffin’s Proper Crisps factory.

And an unknown number of jobs at retailer Kitchen Things are also likely to go, with the shop set to close without any prospective buyers.

Nelson's Mayor, Dr Nick Smith, says the city is reeling after the announcement of several business closures and hundreds of job losses. Photo / File

Smith said another priority was to engage with the food processing industry to ask it what councils and the Government could do to stop “this continued loss of employment”.

“We are losing too many [businesses]. We need to think strategically as a region. How do we do better to hang on to these types of businesses?

“The impact on jobs is a big worry. If we add up the closures of the last three months, we’re over 500. That is a massive hit to our employment market.”

The Nelson community was reeling from the job losses, Smith said, with announcements of closures sending shockwaves through the region.

Many other businesses provided the affected businesses with professional services, “so the flow-on impacts are significantly larger”.

Smith said certain food and beverage products were “a key part of the Nelson brand”.

“[Closures were] a disappointment for Nelson, in that we have these very smart, innovative people that have provided unique food products, like Proper Crisps.”

Smith said Proper Crisps was a “quite unique” company started by locals about 20 years ago. It was bought by Griffin’s, and he understood the company wanted to consolidate production in Wiri, Auckland.

He said he was keen to speak to the Government about a regional deal. Smith said he would also “try and create jobs to fill these big holes” through the council’s regional economic development plans.

Eves Valley sawmill is the largest in the South Island, was built in the 1980s, and produces a lot of timber framing used for construction. Carter Holt Harvey plans to consolidate milling and manufacturing in Kawerau, Smith said.

Sealord’s chief executive, Doug Paulin, said increasing costs and requests for higher supermarket margins had driven the company’s decision to close the Nelson coated fish factory, Radio New Zealand reported.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.