July 24, 2013

Faccenda Group is building a new factory at its Hortonwood site at Telford in West Midlands which will commence later this month on the 100,000 square feet food processing facility.

The new factory will be built alongside the existing 56,000 square feet factory and will be used for refrigeration and dispatch, with offices and space for new packing lines.

"This is another major step in delivering Faccenda's growth strategy," said managing director Andy Dawkins. "It signals a step change in our capability to satisfy our customers' requirements. Building the new facility at our Telford site will support this strategy by delivering a more streamlined, simple and efficient supply chain, and create the space for rapid future growth, in both volume and product diversity."

The current site in Telford will remain open and functioning during the construction of the new site. It is envisaged the new factory will be completed by mid-2014 and fully operational by January 2015.

A company spokeswoman said that there would be employment opportunities, and existing Faccenda staff would be offered the chance to relocate to Telford. But the company was not putting a figure on jobs until nearer the time of completion.

Faccenda, a poultry integrator, operates sites in Brackley in Northamptonshire, and in Telford and Dudley in the West Midlands, with about 2,000 employees and sales of £300 million (US$461 million). It also has a farming base across the south and east of England, with a mix of owned and contracted farms, plus four hatcheries and two feed mills.

Last year Faccenda acquired turkey business Cranberry Foods, adding another 750 employees and £100 million (US$154 million) of turnover. The combined group has a significant share of the UK's retail and food service industry. Asda is a major customer for its chicken and the two businesses recently launched the PoultryLink initiative, offering seven crop contracts to growers.