United Biscuits reveals £50M capital investment

United Biscuits (UB) is preparing to pump £50M of capital investment into the company this year, UK head Jon Eggleton has said.

Eggleton, md at UB, told FoodManufacture.co.uk over the phone in this exclusive podcast, the multi-million-pound investment would give the business more capacity and packaging capabilities.

However, he said the investment was unlikely to increase the company’s already 5,000-strong workforce.

'Invest in factories'

“We need to invest in a lot of elements of the business,” he said. “We are going to invest in factories; we’re going to spend around £50M this year. That’s on a combination of initiatives that is going to give us more capacity and pack flexibility on our main products, such as McVitie's Digestives.”

Meanwhile, rumours of a buyout from Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital were also dismissed as speculation by Eggleton.  

Listen to this podcast for more about what UB has in store over the next three years and how it is preparing itself to be the biscuit equivalent of Cadbury and Kellogg.

Read more about UB's global ambitions.