CCE invests £6M and signs Scottish business pledge
The investment will include the previously reported robotic palletiser and a water treatment plant at its East Kilbride plant.
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon visited the facility to view the new equipment, praising the firm for becoming the 50th business to sign up to the business pledge.
“It’s fantastic that Coca-Cola is dedicated to supporting manufacturing in the area and also to supporting their staff,” she said. “I am pleased to announce that they will now become the 50th business in Scotland to sign up to the Scottish Business Pledge,” she said.
Key asset for any business
“A skilled and innovative workforce is a key asset for any business and can help to improve productivity.”
Fair work and innovation make Scotland’s economy competitive and benefitted individuals and communities across the country, she claimed.
“Prosperity and fairness are at the heart of our distinctive Scottish approach to growing the economy,” she added.
The Scottish Business Pledge is a nine-point voluntary pledge to boost productivity, competitiveness and fair work. CCE has committed to paying the living wage, investing in youth, creating innovation and working towards a balanced workforce, the firm claimed.
Leendert den Hollander, vice president and general manager at CCE GB, said the investment demonstrated the firm’s commitment to local manufacturing in East Kilbride and in Scotland as a whole.
CCE backs Scottish government’s Supporting Healthy Choices
- Introduction of government’s preferred coloured front of pack labelling scheme
- Reformulation of many of its brands
- Introduction of smaller pack sizes
- Launch of Park Lives in Glasgow this year as part of Coca-Cola’s commitment to invest £20M to get 1M UK people active by 2020
“With a legacy within the region of over 50 years, we remain focused on delivering manufacturing excellence and are proud to have welcomed the first minister to see first-hand the world class on-site innovation which this most recent investment supports,” he said.
“We are proud of our status as a local business in all the communities where we operate, and our support of important initiatives such as the Scottish Business Pledge is crucial to this.”
£16M investment
A total of £16M has been invested by CCE at the factory over the past five years, which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The new palletiser automatically stacks cases and runs at much higher line speeds of 14,000 bottles per hour (bph), with the ability to increase to 18,000-20,000 bph.
This would improve operating and energy efficiency at the East Kilbride factory, CCE claimed.
CCE also declared its support for the Scottish Government’s Supporting Healthy Choices initiative.
The voluntary framework, in collaboration with the Food Standards Agency in Scotland aims to work with industry partners to address dietary concerns and health inequalities within the country.
