Brewer and soft drinks manufacturer, Carlsberg Britvic is celebrating 50 years of its Leeds factory this December. The milestone is being marked by a day of celebrations at the site and a dinner for employees at Headingley Stadium.
The factory, on the Swinnow Lane industrial estate in Bramley, was opened in December 1975 by Bass Brewers. It was purpose built for producing soft drinks in glass bottles and originally produced Canada Dry.
Today the site produces many of Carlsberg Britvic’s much-loved soft drinks brands including Pepsi MAX, Tango, R. White’s Lemonade and 7UP. It’s also the only Carlsberg Britvic site manufacturing Pepsi, J2O and iconic Britvic Mixers – such as Tonic Water, Orange Juice and Ginger Ale – in glass bottles.
In total, Carlsberg Britvic Leeds manufactures a massive 30 million cases of soft drinks each year – that’s over 420 million bottles!
The site employs over 250 people from Leeds and surrounding areas and supports early career development with 12 apprentices working as part of their course at the nearby Appris College in Bradford.
Nigel Paine, VP Production at Carlsberg Britvic, said: “The team at the Leeds factory are a crucial part of Carlsberg Britvic’s operations in the UK and I’d like to congratulate them on reaching this milestone – the site’s 50th birthday. We’re proud of everything you do to keep operations running smoothly at the factory, as well as your support for the local community. Keep up the great work!”
The factory team has always been committed to supporting the local community – from working with schools, to training apprentices and volunteering with foodbanks, especially in the run up to Christmas.
Site Manager Lee Hullock said: “Our Leeds factory has become a well-respected and renowned employer in the area. We’re proud of our contribution to the community and of the many training and development opportunities we’ve provided for hundreds of local people. The team here is brilliant and I want to thank each and every one of them for their hard work and commitment.”
A major milestone for the factory was in 1996 when the Swinnow Lane and Pudsey sites were merged. This change saw the site begin to produce Bag in Boxes – the boxes of syrup fundamental to offering soft drinks on dispense in pubs. Between 2015 and 2017 the site started production of plastic bottles.
Most recently the team was instrumental in delivering a key project to transform the company’s Bag in Box production with the introduction of a new 8-sided box, with the innovative design cutting down on the pallets required for transportation and reducing packaging weight.[1]
[1] Calculated based on the weight of the OTOR4 7 litre packaging and the OTOR8 12 litre packaging. The original OTOR4 packaging had a 18.7% reduction, and the 12 litre has a 10.5% reduction
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