Mondelez International to Invest £75 Million at Bournville Site
Mondelez International is to invest £75 million on upgrading the Cadbury factory and headquarters at Bournville near Birminghamin the UK. The money will be spent over three years and will entail the installation of new production lines and new equipment, leading to greater job security. The Bournville factory currently employs about 1,000 people and produces some of the firm’s most popular chocolate, including Dairy Milk, Creme Eggs and Wispas.
According to Mondelez International, the investment will focus on improving capabilities, reducing costs and changes to ways of working that will help to close the competitiveness gap between Bournville and its competitors as well as sister factories in Germanyand Western Europe.
“Bournville has a proud manufacturing heritage and we are committed to ensuring it continues and becomes a world class manufacturing site. This investment would secure the site’s future for the next generation,” says Neil Chapman, manufacturing director of Chocolate UK for Mondelez International. “The competitiveness gap we have identified means we are already missing out on important opportunities to grow.”
Since acquiring Cadbury in 2010, Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods), has invested more than £130 million in its UK operations. Bournville is home to the company’s Global Centre of Excellence for Chocolate research and development site, so every new chocolate product created by the company anywhere in the world starts life at the Birmingham plant.
