Burton’s £5M chocolate investment praised
The Labour Member of Parliament for Wallasey praised the latest £2M investment in modern machinery to upgrade chocolate manufacturing technology to the site.
This brings the total invested at the site to £5M since 2011 and has resulted in more efficient production and better tasting chocolate, Burton’s Biscuit Company said.
“Our continued investment into Moreton has provided a platform for growth by enabling us to enhance our capabilities and focus on up-skilling our staff,” ceo Ben Clarke said.
Maximise output
“The new technology has enabled us to maximise output and most importantly for consumers, improve the quality and taste of our biscuits.”
Eagle, who met workers and two apprentices to find out how the investment had helped modernise production techniques and improve efficiency, said: “It is great to see Burton’s Biscuit Company continuing to go from strength to strength and investing such a large sum in the future of their Wallasey plant.”
The site currently supports two apprentices to undergo training and around 24 employees have also attained NVQ Level qualifications.
The chocolate factory has refined chocolate since the 1950s and currently employs around 50 people.
30,000t of chocolate
The site manufactures around 30,000t of liquid chocolate each year for Burton’s biscuits including Wagon Wheels and Cadbury biscuits under licence.
The site also converts the liquid chocolate into chocolate chips and chunks for Burton’s Maryland brand as well as for some of its other biscuit products.
Burton’s employs more than 2,000 people around the UK, in three main manufacturing facilities in Llantarnam, Edinburgh and Blackpool, the Moreton site and a central distribution hub in Liverpool.
Burton’s was acquired by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in November 2013. This has enabled the company to meet the demands of a challenging economic climate to become a more efficient and agile organisation, it claimed.
Meanwhile, last week Burton’s remained quiet on rumours it was planning to snap up 2 Sisters Food Group’s Fox’s Biscuits brand.
