Coca-Cola Enterprises to Invest £1 Million a Week in its British Operations
Coca-Cola Enterprises plans to spend £52 million this year on its British operations, taking total investment to £227 million since 2011. The four year investment programme underlines CCE’s commitment to manufacturing excellence in Great Britain (GB), with a range of innovations in machinery and sustainable production.
Among CCE’s investments in 2014 will be a Combined Heat and Power system at its Wakefield factory,Europe’s largest soft drinks plant by volume, which will save 1,500 tonnes of CO2 a year, a 5.6% reduction for the site. Other developments include a new production line at Wakefield dedicated to making the iconic contour Coca-Cola bottle in larger PET (polyethylene terephthalate) packaging, including 1.25L and 1.75L formats, and the completion of a new high-speed canning line at its Sidcup facility. The new line’s capacity will increase from 57,600 cans per hour (cph) to 120,000cph and will be the only multi formatted line in GB to produce CCE’s 150ml mini cans, in addition to 250ml slim line cans. These follow a number of major investments over the past three years for CCE including the newly opened £30 million automated warehouse in Wakefield, saving around 500,000 road miles by HGV trucks per year.
The investment announcement coincides with the results of independent research into the economic impact of Coca-Cola in GB. Led by Professor Ethan Kapstein, Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development (WashingtonDC) and economists of Steward Redqueen, the socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) revealed that every pound of value created by Coca-Cola supports an additional £8 elsewhere in the British economy, bringing nearly £2.4 billion annually to the British economy. With some 4,000 people directly employed in GB, the findings also showed that Coca-Cola supports a further 34,500 high-quality, skilled British jobs across the economy, from suppliers and transport to hospitality and retail workers.
Simon Baldry, managing director of Coca-Cola Enterprises, comments: “At Coca-Cola Enterprises we are proud to be a truly local business with 97% of our products made at our six factories across Great Britain. Our latest funding pledge shows once again our desire to invest significantly in the most innovative and efficient technologies available. It forms an important part of our long-term strategy to continue to grow our business sustainably and make a positive contribution to the British economy.”
Professor Ethan B Kapstein, author of the SEIA research, Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development (WashingtonDC) and Associate Partner at Steward Redqueen Consulting, comments: “There are a myriad of reasons why manufacturing is so important for stability and growth in so-called ‘industrial countries’. As well as being a direct source of employment and a driver of innovation that keepsBritaincompetitive on the global stage, it has a crucial role in supporting an entire web of broader economic activity within Great Britain that generates additional jobs and profits at businesses of varying size.”
Professor Kapstein adds: “Our research clearly demonstrates the positive impact that Coca-Cola has as a genuinely local business in Great Britain, delivering significant value to a broad range of sectors and regions across the country, directly and indirectly supporting job creation and household income.”
