Protein Works invests in £10m vertically integrated HQ

The move will see the manufacturer consolidate its food manufacturing, global logistics, digital marketing and technology operations into one 100,000 sq ft purpose-built campus with the capability to scale the business past £100m in revenue.

Protein Works’ new facility, dubbed the ‘P.Works Campus’, will allow the business to handle current growth levels along with the headroom to continue to scale at pace.

Commenting on the investment, chief executive Laura Keir said: “It’s a milestone in our growth journey and quite literally puts Protein Works on the map as one of the UK’s most ambitious functional food brands. We see the move as a blueprint for expansion, as we future-proof the business’s physical capabilities for many years to come.​

Period of growth

Work on the P.Works Campus followed a ‘record’ year of growth for the company, which saw c.40% increase in year-on-year turnover. The business has more than 2 million customers and has sold more than 300 million shakes worldwide since its launch in 2012.

“Our growth in recent years has been a testament to our team, and being based in the North West is a key part of Protein Works’ DNA, so we felt it was important to have that continuity, whilst also driving the business forward,”​ Keir added.

“The new location allows us to do all that. When you’re a fully integrated enterprise that combines product development, food manufacturing, marketing and technology into one business, it’s important that different parts of the business can collaborate at pace. Being together on one campus creates those synergies.”​

Double capacity

P.Works’ newly invested global Logistics Centre will be capable of despatching millions of units around the world each year and will feature double the storage capacity of Protein Works’ previous facility. The facility will prioritise the growth of the brand’s e-commerce channel, which serves a growing customer base.

Chief supply chain officer Stuart Barber claimed the logistics platform rivalled the likes of Muller and Arla, both of which he’s experienced first-hand: “The thinking behind the final execution for our Logistics Centre is the most detailed and data-centric I’ve ever seen.​

“If there’s a way to enable our incredible fulfilment teams to deliver even a 1% improvement in efficiency, we’ll find it, our BI teams will substantiate it and our people will deliver it.”​

Meanwhile, Diageo has announced a €30m investment into the production of Guinness 0.0​ ​at St. James’s Gate in Dublin.