The UK's leading union Unite the Union said 86% of its 500 members in factories in Newark, Suffolk and Norfolk have rejected a 2% pay offer by British Sugar. The union said its members are angry the company pledged to implement a reasonable pay rise when it returned to profitability following their acceptance of a 1% increase in 2019, when British Sugar was struggling financially. "Its financial records show it made pre-tax profits of £55 million in the year up to August 2020, with a similar profit estimated for this year," said Unite.“British Sugar is operating at a profit and can clearly afford massive pay rises for top staff.A British Sugar spokesman said: “We are in active negotiations with Unite to reach agreement on our pay offer for our factory based people. "We are therefore disappointed that the union is talking about strike action and the communication today contains a number of inaccuracies. We are confident we will reach an agreement that works for all in the coming weeks.”