Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has announced today it will close two UK facilities: its manufacturing site in Milton Keynes and its distribution centre in Northampton.
The company said that if the planned closures go ahead, the sites will shut in 2019, with 288 jobs at risk.
The Milton Keynes plant has been in operation for over 40 years, producing beverages such as Lilt, Fanta, Dr Pepper and Relentless.
In a statement, CCEP said: “We are proud of our longstanding links with both towns and have not made these proposals lightly. However, we believe the proposed changes are necessary as they would provide significant productivity improvements and create greater efficiency across our manufacturing and distribution operations in Great Britain.”
The company has proposed the transfer of production to other UK sites and said it expects to create 121 additional roles across its manufacturing and distribution networks, providing potential redeployment opportunities for impacted colleagues.
The news comes just seven months after CCEP announced a £39 million investment to triple the storage capacity at its Greater London facility. The company said the funding will allow all manufactured products to be delivered to customers directly, saving around 10,800 road miles by HGV trucks.
In 2016, CCEP spent £2.3 million in its manufacturing site in East Kilbride, Scotland, which funded the development of a new water treatment plant, as well as the modernisation of wider infrastructure at the factory.
Earlier this month, Coca-Cola announced it will shrink its 1.75-litre bottles and raise prices in the UK in response to the upcoming UK sugar tax.
Source: FoodBev
A new wave of brands is emerging that promotes indulgence and rejects the notion of sacrifice. Low-maintenance “hangover” beauty products are designed to address the effects of late nights and partying without judgment or hassle, and even include cosmetics that are formulated in a way that means you can fall asleep in your makeup without feeling guilty.
The pilot will allow the company to scale circular packaging in about 18 markets over the next three years, an approach that jumps on the success of similar efforts in the company’s Indonesia ecoSPIRITS program, which launched in 2022 and is active in 38 bars.
Unilever’s focus on purpose across its brands has been a source of criticism from some of its investors. Its new CEO Hein Schumacher says the company now recognises there are some brands where the concept is simply not relevant.
