Rugby MP Mark Pawsey has officially opened Britvic’s new canning line at its Rugby factory.
The multimillion-pound investment in the soft drink manufacturer’s largest production site comes as the company celebrates 35 years in the town.
The state-of-the-art line, already producing internationally known brands including Tango, Pepsi and 7UP, saw Britvic invest a further £26.9 million in the Rugby factory and create 20 new jobs. This brings the total number of employees at the site to over 340.
Based on Glebe Farm Industrial Estate, the factory boasts some of the fastest lines in Europe, with the new canning line turning out around 120,000 cans per hour. Bringing the site’s total to four canning lines, the most recent line boosts total capacity by around 20 per cent. This takes total production to an impressive rate of just under half a million cans per hour.
“It was a great pleasure to be able to open Britvic’s new canning line and see for myself the additional investment by Britvic in their Rugby site,” Pawsey said.
“This is great news for our local economy and has created a number of new jobs, including opportunities for apprentices from the local area. Britvic has a 35 year history of manufacturing in Rugby and the fourth canning line shows that the company remains committed to their site and their employees here.”
The MP also commended Britvic’s sustainability efforts at the site.
“We were also able to discuss the need to ensure that packaging remains sustainable and Britvic’s arrangement with Ardagh Group is a great example of minimising the carbon footprint. It is also vital that the sector continues to recycle as much as they can and the work which is ongoing at Britvic both for plastic and aluminium recycling is extremely positive,” he said.
Aluminium cans are 100% recyclable and on average contain 74% recycled material. Many of the cans used by Britvic also benefit from a considerably reduced carbon footprint due to their arrangement with metal packaging manufacturer Ardagh Group’s neighbouring factory, who send cans to Britvic through a tunnel linking the two factories.
Nigel Paine, Supply Chain Director at Britvic, added: “Britvic knows that a strong supply chain is fundamental to its continued success. Having created a modern supply chain for the long-term with our Business Capability Programme, we’re now supercharging it with further investment.
"Consumers love the convenience and sustainability credentials of our cans and, with the increased capacity this new line brings, we’ll be able to put even more of them in their hands this summer and in summers to come.”
