Telford Muller expansion bid ‘best news in ages’
An ambitious scheme by dairy giant Muller to expand its operations in Telford has been welcomed by community leaders.
The firm wants to double its yoghurt production at its food production facility based at Donnington Wood Business Park and has applied to Telford & Wrekin Council to build a huge extension.
The scheme, which is subject to planning approval, is expected to create more than 50 jobs.
Telford & Wrekin Councillor Clive Mason, who represents the Donnington ward, said the proposal would be a great boost for the area. He said: “This is some of the best news we’ve had in ages.
“I welcome the jobs it will create. When they took over the factory it was good news and now they are going to expand it, it’s great.
“They will be producing a lot of yoghurts and that will also be good for the dairy industry. They will be needing more milk so it will benefit farmers as well.”
“It couldn’t be better news for the area.”
Last year, Muller revealed plans to invest £100 million in its business as it looks to tap into huge growth in its markets.
The scheme will allow the business to double its production of 350 million pots of yoghurt a year to 700 million.
The planning application, which has been submitted to Telford & Wrekin Council, states that employee numbers would also be boosted from 333 to 385. New roles would be created in the plant, include engineering, laboratory, site services, production operatives and stores operatives.
The new two-storey 9,600 sq m extension would contain three new production and packing lines, a warehouse, cooling tunnel, dispatch areas, loading bays, plant and equipment control rooms and offices.
The ground floor will be split into two areas – packing and storage.
The first floor of the extension would contain offices, electrical switch rooms and plant and equipment control rooms.
The firm’s yoghurts and desserts division is centred on Shropshire, and has four major production facilities in the county.
Those include its headquarters at Market Drayton, a butter factory next door, the former Nom Dairy in Telford, which is used to make supermarket-branded yoghurts, and a desserts facility at Minsterley, where it makes Cadbury’s products under licence.
Last year, Müller said it saw £700 million worth of growth in the dairy produce sector by 2020, and believes a £100m investment will help it tap into that.
