Britvic announces £13m canning line investment

This multi-million-pound venture will create 20 new jobs at the site on the Glebe Industrial Estate. Britvic’s increased spend at the Rugby site will also provide apprentices with the opportunity to take up full-time positions in the business.

According to Britvic, the new line – the fifth canning line to be added to the factory – will take the factory into the top five soft drinks manufacturing sites in Europe.

People, product and planet

Paul Graham, Britvic managing director in Great Britain, commented: “This investment is another example of our commitment to our people, product and planet goals.​

“Developing our state-of-the-art supply chain means that we can increase the production capacity of peoples’ favourite brands, create more jobs and improve efficiency helping to reduce waste. We look forward to seeing the new canning line in action.”​

The new set-up will see capacity increase by 14%, producing 80,000 recyclable 330ml cans per hour of brands such as Tango and Pepsi MAX. The first cans are expected to hit shelves in the next few weeks.

Two years of investment

Britvic’s latest addition to its Rugby factory formed part of a circa £40m investment in the factory over the past two years.

In 2021, the drinks firm invested £27m in another canning line at the factory, while last year (2022) saw Britvic spend £19m to upgrade its national distribution centre.

These investments follow Britvic’s broader circa £250m business continuity plan investment in its British supply chain, which was completed in November 2019 and reflects the group’s ongoing commitment to the continuous improvement of its operations.

Meanwhile, last month, Pembrokeshire Creamery announced plans to invest £17m in a new milk processing facility​​ at the recently developed Pembrokeshire Food Park, with 80 new jobs to be created over the next three years.