Coca-Cola Milton Keynes launches £11m canning line

One of the largest sites in the UK, Milton Keynes currently houses nine production lines, generating over a third of all canned Coca-Cola products manufactured in the UK.

18 Aug 2009 --- Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) has unveiled a new £11million canning line at its site in Northfield, Milton Keynes in the UK. As part of an ongoing investment programme within the site, the new canning line is set to drive productivity and efficiency for the business as well as creating a number of new jobs in the area.

Opened by local Conservative MP Mark Lancaster, who performed the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, it was also attended by representatives from South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the local Chamber of Commerce.

One of the largest sites in the UK, Milton Keynes currently houses nine production lines, generating over a third of all canned Coca-Cola products manufactured in the UK. The new canning line will:•       

• Help cut production costs and carbon emissions by reducing transportation•       
• Enable the production of up to 1,500 330ml cans a minute
• Facilitate the production of 500ml cans of energy drink Relentless – making Milton Keynes the only site in Great Britain to currently manufacture these.

Steve Thorpe, CCE Operations Director at Milton Keynes, says: “The opening of the new canning line is a great achievement for CCE. Not only are we set to increase our productivity and efficiency as a company, we are also meeting the need to recruit a number of employees from the local area, which we find particularly rewarding in the current climate. In order to maintain the successful functioning of the site we have increased the site workforce by 10 per cent, employing an additional 25 people from the local community to become part of the Coca-Cola team.” 

Coca-Cola Enterprises Milton Keynes was the first CCE site to achieve a ‘Landfill Status" accolade, winning the national LetsRecycle.com award in 2008.  The site has achieved a "zero landfill" performance for the past three years.