Nicola Sturgeon celebrates the latest investment at East Kilbride factory - Coca-Cola European Partners
Leendert Den Hollander, Vice President and General Manager at Coca-Cola European Partners GB, discusses the business’ commitment to invest in its operations and people across the country.
At Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), we are committed to continually improving our processes, operations and training – ensuring manufacturing excellence across our sites in Great Britain (GB). As part of this, we have invested £23 million into our East Kilbride factory in Scotland. Key to this local investment are two brand new state-of-the-art robotic multi pack fillers made bespoke for the site dedicated to making Capri-Sun, one of the largest kids’ juice brands in GB, worth £68 million.
To celebrate these investments, we welcomed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to our East Kilbride factory on 31st July, to officially open the new production lines and meet the local team. We took the First Minister on a tour of our operations, where she could see the production of some of the nation’s favourite drinks in action, and hear about how these investments at a local level are in fact supporting some of our key business objectives at a national and European level.
The investment will create 18 roles and additional investment to upskill the 170-strong workforce. Employees will receive training that equips them with the necessary skillset to enhance the benefits they experience as part of the investments in Scotland. We are also continuing to invest in the Scottish Apprenticeship programme each year, as well as working with Skills Development Scotland (SDS). This was a pivotal part of the entire investment process for us as a business, as no matter how innovative and efficient the new technologies are that we incorporate into our operations, our people are the driving force behind our commitment to manufacturing excellence – so it’s vital that we support their training and development effectively.
Our East Kilbride site has reached a total of £42 million of investment in its operations since 2010. In addition to the new Capri-Sun lines this year, other investments have included a £2.3 million water treatment plant – saving 9 million litres per year. The site was also the first of its kind to house an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) warehouse holding up to 14,000 pallets. This type of automated warehouse is now operational at three other sites across our network in GB.
At CCEP, we are proud to be a truly local business, and we are committed to driving manufacturing excellence across the entire country. I look forward to seeing how the local East Kilbride site continues to develop in light of our latest investment, supporting the local team and community, as well as the broader business and manufacturing industry as a whole.
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