Princes completes £40M Bradford redevelopment

Princes food and drink group has completed a £40M redevelopment project at its Bradford-based soft drinks factory to increase capacity and improve its production capabilities, after work began in Autumn 2012.

Capacity at the 101,000m² site has been boosted with a 2,880m² new warehouse, while production capabilities have also been increased, according to the firm.

The new warehouse would store soft drinks before being shipped to UK retailers and would reduce the risk of damage to products, and lower the number of trucks on the roads, it said.

New syrup manufacturing facility

A new central syrup manufacturing facility, for blending ingredients for squashes and fizzy soft drinks, has also received investment, as well as a new effluent treatment plant.

A spokeswoman for Princes said: “This investment reflects Princes’s commitment to ensuring all of our sites make efficient use of the resources available and reduce waste.

“It ensures that the Bradford site maintains its status as one of the leading soft drinks production sites in the UK.”

More than 300 staff

More than 300 staff are employed at the site, which produces 400M bottles of fruit squash and carbonated drinks every year.

The Japanese-owned firm, which manufactures brands such as Branston, Flora and Napolina, posted record sales of £1.74bn last year for the year ending March 2013.

In 2001, Princes acquired two Premier Foods canning operations at Long Sutton and Wisbech in East Anglia. The sites employed 1,000 staff at the time and produced brands such as Corsse & Blackwell, Farrow’s and Smedley’s.

In 2013 Princes formed a new firm in Italy, which was claimed to operate one of the most modern and efficient tomato processing and canning and packing sites in Europe.