Britvic to pump £25M into J2O plant, adding 40 jobs
The soft drinks maker said most of the cash would be pumped into a fourth production line at the plant, as soon as Leeds City Council grants planning permission.
“The new line would add to our three existing lines (one bag & box and two glass) and boast a throughput of 36,000 2 litre bottles an hour,” a spokesman for Britvic told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
‘Fastest in Europe’
That would make it “one of the fastest PET [polyethylene terephthalate] lines in Europe and host to Britvic’s leading carbonates – Pepsi, 7UP, Mountain Dew, Tango and R Whites”, he added.
“Given the productivity and achievements of our Leeds factory so far, and as a vital and thriving part of our business, we are looking to extend the facility to allow for potential increased capacity,” Britvic stated on its website.
“Naturally it makes sense to extend a current site rather than building a new one elsewhere.”
‘Ready for Christmas 2015’
The Britvic spokesman said: “We’re hoping for it to go to planning committee before Easter, so construction can take place throughout the year and increased production capacity will be ready for Christmas 2015.”
The company expects the new development to create up to 40 jobs, which will come on stream from around October/November 2015.
The plant, located at Swinnow Industrial Estate currently produces mixers and fruit juices such as J2O for the domestic and international market. It processes bottles for consumers and bag-in-a-box containers for the hospitality industry.
Britvic’s brands include Robinsons, Tango and J2O. In addition, it produces and sells a number of PepsiCo’s famous soft drinks brands, including Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain Dew Energy, under exclusive agreements with PepsiCo.
The company plans to produce at least some of these at the Leeds factory, which currently produces 63,000 bottles an hour.
