For the second year running Burton’s Biscuits has announced it will make multi-million pound investments in UK manufacturing and supply chain operations.
Burton’s Biscuit Company, the second largest biscuit manufacturer in the UK, revealed today that it will invest £13.5 million throughout 2013 in new technology for its UK sites.
The first tranche of investment is now in place at the company’s Llantarnam factory in South Wales. Burton’s is hosting tours of the site for industry and national press representatives today.
Central to 2013 investment is new control technology which will give the food manufacturer unique, real time insight into the biscuit baking process. The installation of this technology is thought to be a first for the biscuit making industry.
The £13.5m of manufacturing and supply chain investment allocated for 2013 follows £12.5m in 2012 and responds to rising domestic and international demand for Burton’s products. In 2012 the company achieved its record market share for the UK sweet biscuit market.
It is hoped the new control technology will highlight opportunities for process improvement and enhance consistency and quality in the manufacturing process, particularly for growing ‘power brands’ such as Dodgers, Maryland Cookies and Wagonwheels, all of which are made by Burton’s. The company also manufactures Cadbury’s chocolate biscuits under licence.
The Llantarnam plant will act as a pilot site for proving the control technology before it is rolled out at sites in Blackpool and Edinburgh. Other 2013 investments across these sites and at Llantarnam will be made in automation and packaging equipment.
Burton’s Biscuit Company employs around 2000 people in the UK across five sites which include its headquarters in St Albans and a chocolate refinery in Moreton in addition to the manufacturing sites already mentioned.
An interview with Neil Grocock, chief supply chain officer at Burton’s Biscuit Company, will be available later following The Manufacturer’s tour of the Llantarnam site.
