Arla invests share of £460m in region’s sites

FARMER-OWNED DAIRY co-operative Arla Foods has announced a plan to invest almost half a billion pounds this year as part of the company’s 2020 growth plan.

The £460m package is a global investment but will see £72m spent in the UK across ten of its 12 sites, including two in Yorkshire – at Stourton, Leeds and at Settle in the Yorkshire Dales.

Almost half of the UK portion will be pumped into developing Arla’s new carbon net zero site in Aylesbury and the remaining £32.5m will be split between Arla’s plants in Oswestry, Melton Mowbray, Llandyrnog, Malpas, Oakthorpe and Trevarrian, as well as the two in Yorkshire.

A sum of around £1.3m will be spent, predominantly on upgrades to facilities, at Stourton and about £300,000 at Settle.

Arla said that figure also includes “non-site specific investments which will enable Arla continue to drive growth for the farmers which own it and capitalise on increasing demand for dairy”.

Tomas Pietrangeli, managing director of Arla Foods UK, said: “Arla is the biggest dairy company in the UK, owned by 11,200 farmers across Europe. This investment is almost double the investment of last year and, with the exception of building the Aylesbury dairy, it is the biggest annual investment for Arla in the UK.”

He said Brexit would not inhibit investment, adding: “While milk prices remain volatile and Brexit brings both uncertainty and opportunity, Arla farmers in the UK and across Europe are committed to continually investing in our UK business to maintain pace with the demand for nature’s original superfood, and the consumer choice it creates.”