Marston’s, the brewer and pub operator, is to spend £7.4m improving its bottling line with increased storage and capacity.
It will take up less space and be more economical to run, whilst providing a more flexible facility for smaller bottle runs, the company said.
Marston’s said the new bottling line will process 18,000 bottles per hour and will be able to sterilise the beer prior to packaging either by flash pasteurisation or sterile filtration. There will be four new 480 barrel conditioning tanks to increase capacity for holding beer before bottling.
Marston’s predicts that its packaged business will continue to grow by 10% year-on-year both through its own brands and in contract bottling.
Emma Gilleland, head of supply chain at Marston’s, said: “This is a timely investment for Marston’s at a time when our bottled beer volumes are in tremendous growth. Our current line is operating at full capacity with some volume being contracted out in the busy periods. The new line will allow us greater flexibility for our bottled beer portfolio as well as bringing employment to the town in the form of 15 new jobs.”
Work on the project is due to complete in September.
Pictured are some of the new storage tanks that have been installed.
