
Economic Opportunities
Jan 16 2025
The Midlands is pivotal to the UK’s food system, producing more food than any other region, hosting 52% of the UK’s largest food producers, and featuring pioneering agri-tech clusters. The Midlands Engine’s Food White Paper found that the regional industry generates £32bn in GVA per year, with annual exports worth £2.1bn. This sectoral expertise, the region’s prime central location, and cross-cutting innovation in industry and research are cementing the Midlands as the obvious choice for major agri-food foreign direct investment into the UK.
PepsiCo (Walkers and Doritos) – Coventry, Leicester, Lincoln: PepsiCo has massively expanded its production operations across the Midlands since 2021, amounting to more than £100 million investment into manufacturing facilities in Coventry, Leicester and Lincoln. This includes £58m invested into a new manufacturing line and other facility upgrades at the Walkers Leicester site, creating 100 new jobs in the city where Walkers was founded and representing owner PepsiCo’s largest single investment into the UK in 25 years.
The investment in Coventry, alongside last year’s £58 million investment in the Walkers manufacturing site in Leicester, reaffirms PepsiCo’s commitment to the Midlands region where it employs over 2,100 people across its Leicester, Coventry and Lincoln sites.” – PepsiCo, July 2024
Lidl & Schwarz Produktion – Derby: In February 2024 Lidl, in partnership with German company Schwarz Produktion announced a new £50,000,000 bottling plant in Derbyshire, creating 90 new high-skilled jobs, citing localising production in the Midlands as ‘a significant milestone’ in efforts to improve carbon footprints and reduce costs. The “MEG Derby” plant is Schwarz Produktion’s first location outside Germany.
A prime central location and close links to sector-leading Harper Adams University have cemented the Newport area as a growing agri-food R&D hub, hosting new UK HQs and research centres for several international companies.
Home to the National Centre for Precision Farming (NCPF) and to the Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre’s key research sites. The Agri-EPI Centre aims to bridge the gap between R&D and industry as part of the government’s strategy to develop, fund and commercialise new agricultural technologies. Harper Adams also has strong links to the nearby Ni.Park, a hub for agri-tech businesses in Newport.
The firm chose Ni.PARK Newport as a location for its UK headquarters because of its location, the excellent facilities on offer and its links with Harper Adams University. Aaron Hale, Provisur Account Manager UK & Ireland, said: “The company believed that being located in the Midlands in the heart of the UK was the best solution, which is why we opted for this base.”
The dairy product company, which specialises in customised milking equipment and currently boasts 42% of the NZ market, has chosen to locate its UK base at the Agri-Epi Centre in Telford. As Brent Crothers, Sales Manager for MilkTechNZ, explained: “Working from the Agri-Epi Centre means that we are working alongside like-minded businesses, all with the goal of improving farm performance and productivity.”
The third-largest global tractor manufacturer has established an R&D Centre in Telford, with their collaboration with Harper Adams and the Agri-EPI Centre described as “key to driving sustainable farming practices” by Mallika Srinivasan, TAFE’s Chairman and Managing Director.
SmartParc in Derby is an innovative 110-acre food business park, reimagining food production for the 21st century. Creating 2 million sq. ft. of food chain space, Smartparc is based on access to sustainable shared energy, workforce, and expertise – optimising operating processes and lowering production costs by as much as 20%.
A new state-of-the-art frozen production and logistics facility at SmartParc will create 600 jobs and support its manufacturing and logistics network, building capacity for up to 3,500 shops in the UK.
HelloFresh has chosen Derby’s SmartParc SEGRO as the site for its new distribution centre, creating around 300 jobs for the local community to date. The Berlin-based company is now the UK’s number one recipe box company, with over 7 million global customers, and by opening its largest European distribution centre at SmartParc’s low-carbon food manufacturing campus, it plans to respond to ongoing demand while maintaining its status as the world’s first carbon-neutral meal kit company.
“We have invested for over two years to build our latest automated production technology in Derby, particularly due to its incredibly diverse and skilled talent pool… Derby’s great connectivity also means we can provide an even better delivery experience for our UK customers with 80% of customers now being within a four-hour drive of where the product is made.” – Adam Park, HelloFresh UK CEO
Photo: Smart Parc
For more information on opportunities in the Midlands’ agri-tech sector, visit the Midlands Investment Portfolio, read our Agri-Tech and Food & Drink Cluster Snapshots, or check out the R&D Investment Prospectus.
Economic Opportunities
Jan 16 2025
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