Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd announces £30 million investment in Wakefield
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) is demonstrating its commitment to manufacturing in Wakefield with a £30 million investment programme.
Approximately £30m is being invested in a new automated warehouse at Wakefield - which is the largest and most environmentally efficient bottling plant of its kind in Europe; since 2009 the site has sent zero waste to landfill, and has recently been certified to the challenging new international energy management standard, ISO 50001, the first company in the global food and beverage industry to achieve this.
The new facility will double CCE Wakefield's storage capacity, which means that products manufactured at the site will be delivered to customers directly, rather than via external warehouses, saving approximately 500,000 road miles per year.
As part of the two year construction programme, improvements to a local wildlife area will be implemented, as well as a noise-reduction plan to ensure minimum disruption to CCE's neighbouring residents and businesses.
Ian Johnson, Site Operations Director of CCE Wakefield, said: "We are committed to manufacturing in this country, and are proud of the ongoing investment in the Wakefield site. The £30m investment is crucial to developing our business in line with our fundamental objective to grow more, while minimising our impact on the environment. Sustainability is in our DNA, and is at the heart of our business decisions."
Local Member of Parliament and Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, said: "I believe everyone in our area is proud to have such a globally significant and environmentally sophisticated bottling plant on our doorstep in Morley and Outwood at Wakefield 41. With the economy locally and nationally facing such a difficult time, it's really positive news that Coca-Cola are continuing to invest so significantly in our area."
The investment at its Wakefield manufacturing facility forms a crucial part of CCE's strategy to grow its business whilst reducing the impact of its operations on the environment, with sustainable innovation at the heart of an overall £50m programme across a total of three of its sites - Wakefield, East Kilbride and Sidcup..
Notes to editors
Contact
For further information please contact Elisabeth Middlemas or Becky
Potgieter at 3 Monkeys Communications on cocacolaenterprises@3-monkeys.co.uk
/ 01895 844 828
About Coca-Cola Enterprises Wakefield
CCE's site at Wakefield opened in 1989 with just four lines and 120
staff. Today, Wakefield is the company's largest soft drinks
plant in Europe, producing 40% of GB volume. It has 10 lines,
employs over 500 staff and is the only site to produce over 100
million cases of product a year. It operates 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
Since 2007 CCE has invested around £50m to make CCE Wakefield one of the fastest, most efficient and sustainable producers of soft drinks in the world. CCE Wakefield's vision is to deliver world class customer service, safety and quality.
