Diageo has announced a £40.5 million investment to expand capacity at its beer packaging facilities in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Runcorn, England.
The spirits major said the investment will help meet the global demand for Guinness products from domestic and export markets, with the expansion set to support accelerated production and product innovation.
The facility in Belfast will see its canning production more than double with a £24.5m investment that will convert existing warehouses into a new state-of-the-art packaging line capable of producing 72,000 cans per hour.
A further £16m will be invested at the Runcorn site to significantly upgrade its bottling line and expand warehousing capacity.
“This expansion is a significant investment in the development of our packaging facilities. The projects in Belfast and Runcorn will support our growth ambitions, helping us to deliver end-to-end product innovation, and reinforce our agility to meet demand and provide excellent service to our customers around the world,” Aidan Crowe, operations director for beer at Diageo, said.
Work is set to begin immediately with new capacity at both facilities expected to be available in 2023.
