Planned £20 million extension could create hundreds of jobs in Nottinghamshire

Plan for £20m extension at Bakkavor dessert factory could create hundreds of jobs

Bakkavor Desserts produced 80 million eclairs, 40 million egg custards and 20 million bowl trifles last year.

A desserts manufacturer could create hundreds of jobs after unveiling a proposal for a £20m extension at a Nottinghamshire factory.

The expansion would create capacity for another 270 staff to be based on Bakkavor Desserts’ Newark site at any one time – an increase of more than a quarter.

Bakkavor Group has submitted plans for the development at the Jessop Way plant to Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The proposal follows the closure of the firm’s factory in Huthwaite earlier this year.

A Bakkavor spokeswoman said: “This is an exciting time for Bakkavor Desserts as the business continues to grow.

“Our proposed investment will further enhance our capabilities as a leading desserts manufacturer and we anticipate that we will have a number of new jobs available in the second half of next year if this proposal goes ahead.”

About 1,800 people work at the Newark plant, which produces 170 million packs of desserts for supermarket own-brand labels each year.

They include eclairs, doughnuts, tarts and slices, fruit and chocolate trifles , and profiterole stacks.

Last November, it launched a recruitment drive for 117 permanent jobs as production operatives and production supervisors.

At that time, Bakkavor Desserts produced 80 million eclairs, 40 million egg custards and 20 million bowl trifles.

In a planning statement, the company said it now has 720 factory staff – of which 140 are agency workers – and 100 office employees on site at any one time.

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The extension would result in the number of people on site rising to 940 – including 200 agency workers – and 150 office staff.

It said that investing £20m in the factory could lead to sales increasing by £30m and keep it on track for annual growth of 3.5 percent.

The Newark factory is forecast to produce £149m of sales in 2017.

The firm added: “The marketplace is incredibly competitive and [Bakkavor] must constantly look for opportunities to both strengthen and diversify the core business.

“There has been significant investment in the site over the years and the latest investment of £20m will see the company realise further growth and future potential areas of expansion in a very competitive marketplace.

“The Jessop Road site is a major employer in the area and is carefully controlled both in terms of security and vehicular access and parking.”

Additional bakery and assembly areas would be created by the proposed expansion to help deliver its future business plan, with a canteen and offices built at the front.

Bakkavor, a London-based manufacturer of fresh prepared foods, employs more than 18,000 people worldwide across 43 sites.

Its 52,000 sq ft Welcome Foods plant in Brookside Way, Huthwaite, ceased production in August and was placed on the market by property agent Savills. It had been focused mainly on flavourings and sauces.

About 300 staff were affected, with the company saying it has tried to find alternative employment for staff “wherever possible”, with production transferring to Spalding, Lincolnshire.

Its 52,000 sq ft Welcome Foods plant in Brookside Way, Huthwaite, ceased production in August and was placed on the market by property agent Savills. It had been focused mainly on flavourings and sauces.

Source: www.nottinghampost.co.uk - 5 April 2018

Portsmouth Food Supplier creates 20 Jobs

Food Supplier Quattro Foods has expanded its business with the creation of 20 new jobs. The Portsmouth-established firm, which started life in 2010, boasts restaurant chains, start-ups and individual outlets as its client. Now the supplier has expanded into a new unit at Oak Park Industrial Estate in Northarbour Road.

Brokered by Holloway Iliffe & Mitchell on behalf of a private property investor, the deal will see a comprehensive £330,000 fit-out programme. The expansion will see the creation of 20 new jobs. The firm already has its main manufacturing site in Portfield Road in Copnor.

Quattro Foods managing director Sam Brower said: ‘This year has already been a hugely exciting one for Quattro Foods and we are delighted about the forthcoming expansion into Northarbour in early April. ‘With the opportunity to fit out our new premises from scratch, we have been able to include state of the art equipment that will enable us to continue to grow the business further, as well as creating around 20 new jobs for local people.’

The firm also acts as a supplier for NHS Wales and the education sector. At the end of last year the company identified Oak Park Industrial Estate as an opportunity, taking on a new 10-year lease on the 7,667 sq ft unit. The business already had a unit on the site but will now expand into the new unit tomorrow. Holloway Iliffe & Mitchell director Tom Holloway said: ‘We have secured several new tenants to Oak Park Industrial Estate over the last six months and their significant investment in upgrading the units has made a big difference to the local area. ‘With diverse businesses such as Quattro Foods and Ecarlogical expanding their requirements, this area of Portsmouth is becoming increasingly popular.’

Source: www.portsmouth.co.uk - 9 April 2018

Somerset to benefit from 50 new Food Manufacturing Jobs

Somerset’s food manufacturing sector is to benefit to the tune of 50 new jobs.

Somerset Live reports that food production company Charlie Bigham's is creating the jobs at Dulcote Quarry to allow it to add further dishes to its range of ready meals.

The firm is looking specifically for people to join its late shifts, starting at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm To make it easier for those working these shifts, it has partnered with local company P & V Minibuses to offer employees free transport to and from work.

Source: www.recruiter.co.uk - 27 October 2017

Food Manufacturer creating 150 Jobs

Two Sisters Food Group needs new recruits at its manufacturing sites in Derby and Heanor.

A food manufacturing giant is looking to recruit an extra 170 jobs across its two Derbyshire factories as it looks to ramp up production ahead of the festive season.
JobCentre Plus in Derby has said it is working with Two Sisters Food Group to fill the roles at the firm’s ready meals factory in Derby and at Christmas pudding manufacturer Matthew Walker, which has its factory in Heanor.

Two Sisters took over the former S&A Foods factory last year. S&A went into administration at the end of 2015 after it lost a key contract with Asda. It resulted in the loss of 300 jobs. But Two Sisters stepped in and took over the factory and re-opened the site in April 2016, with many of the jobs going to former S&A Foods staff.

Today, the factory, which makes barbecue, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat poultry products, employs 500 people.

Now, according to JobCentre Plus, the firm is looking to add to that number over the coming months - with positions available including team leaders, production and dispatch staff.
At the same time, Two Sisters is also looking to add 100 extra staff to its Matthew Walker factory at Heanor Gate.

Source: www.derbytelegraph.co.uk - 16 August 2017

Female Candidates leading the way in the Whiskey & Beer Industry

A placement at Whitegate oil refinery in her third year of studying process and chemical engineering at University College Cork (UCC) gave Michelle Leahy an interest in distillation and when Brian Nation, master distiller at Irish Distillers, came to the college to give a talk, a seed was planted.

Leahy is one of the young people who have participated in the Irish Distillers graduate distiller programme since it started six years ago. Further to completing the two-year programme last May, she is now covering maternity leave as a bond supervisor at Midleton distillery in Cork, where she will take up a permanent role as a technician next April.

Ten out of the 12 participants on the graduate distiller programme to date have been female. “I knew two girls who had done my course at UCC had been on the programme and heard they were doing well. When another girl, Katherine Condon, came in to give the talk with Brian Nation, that really sold it to me,” said Leahy.

The main attraction of the programme was the broad exposure to the industry it provides, said Leahy. “I got to experience all areas of the plant at Midleton, from the laboratory to production and the bond area where new-make spirit is filled into casks and matured,” she said.

According to Sinéad D’Arcy, Jameson international graduate programme manager, there are clear career progression paths for anyone who secures a role with Irish Distillers after the programme. Deirdre O’Carroll, who was part of the first intake in 2012, started out as a process technologist in the brewhouse when she finished the programme, and is now a bond supervisor in maturation at Midleton.

There are 400 people employed across Irish Distillers’ production teams in Midleton and its bottling and logistics site in Dublin. One of the interesting aspects of the graduate distiller programme is that participants get to conduct new product trials in the micro-distillery at Midleton — Karen Cotter was the first chief distiller of the micro-distillery when she completed the programme in 2015 and she is now a process technologist at the site. “The production team works collaboratively with so many units within Irish Distillers, including innovation and finance,” said D’Arcy. “Our distillers must have higher-level technical skills but interpersonal skills, charm and charisma are equally important.”

In the past four years, the number of operational distilleries in Ireland has increased from four to 18 and there are plans for a further 16. Sales of Irish whiskey have increased by 135% in the past five years to reach a total of 8.7m cases — each of 9 litres — in 2016, according to the Irish Whiskey Association. This growth, along with the move towards product diversity and innovation in beer, has made a career in brewing and distilling more compelling.

According to Food Wise 2025, it is expected that the brewing and distilling sector will create 23,000 more jobs in Ireland and increase its exports by 85% to €19bn by 2025. The number of microbreweries has more than quadrupled since 2012 to more than 60 and is expected to reach 100 in the same time frame. “Ten years ago building a career in brewing wasn’t a terribly realistic option as the industry was stagnant,” said Aidan Crowe, director of operations at Diageo. “The dynamic has changed with the explosion of new products. Five or six years ago, we were producing 10-15 main products, now 35-40 products are coming out of the brewery.”

There are 150 people directly employed by Diageo on the production side in Ireland. About 20 young people a year are taken onto its graduate programme covering the international supply centre and operations. They get to move around different parts of the business over a three-year period.

New hires tend to mainly come from engineering, food science and biology backgrounds, but Crowe said Diageo is also interested in specialists and fresh thinking. “We look to bring in people to challenge what we do and how we do it,” he said. For example, Diageo has hired people from the army and Bord na Mona to work in operations, he said.

Crowe joined what was then Guinness’s graduate programme 27 years ago after doing an engineering degree in the National University of Ireland Galway. He has held a number of roles within Diageo and has been operations director since 2013.

“The opportunities within Diageo in production are limitless, particularly if you’re globally mobile,” he said. “It very much depends on the level of ambition and ability you have.”

Last September, 18 people started on the country’s first bachelor of science (BSc) degree course in brewing and distilling at the Institute of Technology (IT) Carlow. Dublin Institute of Technology recently launched its BSc food innovation (brewing and distilling) degree course in partnership with Irish Distillers and Diageo, which will have its first intake next year. Both four-year degree programmes incorporate work placements in the third year.

David Ryan, programme director at IT Carlow, said the first intake on its brewing and distilling course includes four girls, and is a mixture of school leavers, mature students and international students.

The IT Carlow programme is one of only four degrees in the world recognised by the Institute of Brewing & Distilling [IBD]. “Graduates can work anywhere globally with the degree programme we have designed,” he said.

Daniel Madden started as a brewer at Franciscan Well brewery in Cork in 2015 after doing an arts degree in UCC and a diploma in biopharmaceutical manufacturing operations at Cork Institute of Technology. Last year he completed a certificate in brewing with the IBD and is studying for an IBD diploma.

“Working for a global company you might spend your whole career in one small section of the brewery,” he said. “Here, I have the opportunity to see everything — every day I see beer coming in as malt and leaving in a keg. It is a busy environment where everyone shares ideas.”

Founded by Shane Long in 1998, Franciscan Well is an award-winning craft brewery bought by Molson Coors four years ago and now employing 11 people.

“I was here when Franciscan Well’s second brewery in the Docklands area was installed and commissioned,” said Madden. “I hope as it grows I will ride on the crest of that wave.”

Source: www.thetimes.co.uk - 26 November 2017