Dr. Oetker completes £30m investment at Leyland factory

Dr. Oetker UK has completed a £30m capital investment programme at its Leyland facility in Lancashire. 2019 also marks a decade of the firm producing the nation’s favourite frozen pizza brands in the UK. The new production capabilities at the Leyland facility means that the capacity potential has doubled and demonstrates the business’s commitment to maintaining its manufacturing base in the UK.

The facility which produces the Nation’s favourite pizza brands Chicago Town and Dr. Oetker Ristorante for the UK and international markets has increased total capacity with the introduction of a new production line for its popular Chicago Town Deep Dish pizzas, new raw materials storage capacity and new technology which results in faster and more efficient freezing.

Dr. Oetker has completed a £30m investment programme to double capacity at its Leyland factory and confirmed that plans are in place for continued investment at the site / Picture: Dr. Oetker

The new line was officially opened by the Mayor of South Ribble, Cllr John Rainsbury and attended by Dr. Oetker executive board members and representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry and the German Embassy in the UK.

The continued investment at the Leyland facility throughout the last 10 years has resulted in more job opportunities and has seen the business swell numbers from 360 to 440 people.

Georg Heerdegen Parsbo, Managing Director at Dr. Oetker UK, said: “Dr. Oetker is incredibly proud of our world-class facility and our new investment means we can continue to meet the demands for our great tasting pizzas both here in the UK and overseas. Dr. Oetker philosophy of “Quality is the Best Recipe” is at the heart of the business and our investment demonstrates a clear commitment to the UK business and the future of pizza manufacturing in our Leyland facility.

“We are very grateful to the South Ribble Council and support of the local community without whom our expansion would not have been possible.”

Dr. Oetker acquired Schwans UK frozen pizza manufacturing facility in 2009 and over the past decade has undertaken a series of significant investment projects to enable 95% of its Pizza sold in the UK, to be manufactured here in the UK. Further plans are in place for continued investment in the site to meet its growing UK and export sales. The planning application predicts expansion will result in the creation of a further 120 jobs once it is fully implemented.