Greencore to invest £12M in new manufacturing unit

The company decided to commission another unit after higher than expected sandwich volumes and growth trends at the site, according to its chief financial officer Alan Williams.

“The volumes that we are seeing in the Northampton campus are stronger than we had initially anticipated when we announced 18 months ago that we were expanding the site,” ​he told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

‘Continuation of investment’ ​

“We are building an additional unit to come on stream in January 2017. It’s a continuation of the investment we have been making.”​

He said the new manufacturing unit would make food-to-go products, apart from sandwiches, but did not specify what type. Greencore’s chilled range includes sushi, quiches and salads.

This investment comes after the expansion of existing buildings and the construction of a new sandwich making facility,​ due to be completed in April 2016.

The firm has about 1,500 employees in Northampton, but Williams said it was difficult to say how many jobs the latest investment would create.

‘Take on more employees’​

“We will take on more employees from April 2016, then a slug beyond that when we open the further new facility in January 2017,” ​he said.   ​

The firm revealed plans for the additional unit today (November 24) as it published results for the year to September 25 2015.

“This new unit will bring new, technically distinct, food-to-go competencies and products to our campus,”​ the financial statement said.

The expansion was amid sandwich volume growth at Northampton and the “good commercial momentum”​ across the firm’s food-to-go division, it added.

Greencore’s UK and US food-to-go businesses achieved a 10.4% like-for-like revenue growth, according to the results published today.

For more information on the firm’s results click here​.