Kraft will be investing £50m in its UK manufacturing facilities and production of biscuits and chocolate, but at the cost of axing 200 jobs nationwide.
The food and drink manufacturer will be looking to improve its global centre for chocolate excellence in Bournville, West Midlands, alongside its North Wales and Herefordshire sites, with a £44m cash injection. It will also invest £6m in its Sheffield plant and create 20 new roles where the company will bring biscuit-making to its UK locations for the first time.
The move comes at the same time as the business announced it will reduce its workforce from March 2012 over a two-year period, cutting around 200 jobs through redeployment and voluntary redundancies.
Neil Chapman, Kraft’s manufacturing director, UK chocolate, said: "The ambition is for Bournville, Chirk and Marlbrook to remain at the centre of British food manufacturing and of the Kraft Foods network.
"We continue to invest in our people and facilities, so we can increase productivity and transform our business.
"Kraft Foods has already designated Bournville as its R&D Centre of Excellence for chocolate. Today’s announcement signals Kraft Foods’ plans for growth across the manufacturing network."
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