DIAGEO ANNOUNCES £40.5 MILLION INVESTMENT IN BEER PACKAGING FACILITY

The world leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands in spirits and beer, Diageo, has announced that it will invest £40.5 million in its beer packaging facilities. This investment will expand capacity at the beer packaging facilities in Belfast and Runcorn and support the growth in demand for Guinness.

Work will begin immediately and the new capacity is expected to be available in 2023. The Belfast-based facility will see its canning production more than double with a £24.5 million investment that will convert the aforementioned warehouses into a new state-of-the-art canning line capable of producing 72,000 cans per hour. A further £16 million will be invested at the Runcorn site to significantly upgrade its bottling line, which will help expand the site’s storage capacity.

Commenting, Aidan Crowe, Director of Beer Operations at Diageo said: “This expansion is a significant investment in the development of our packaging facilities. The projects in Belfast and Runcorn will support our growth ambitions, helping us to deliver end-to-end product innovation and strengthen our agility to meet demand and provide excellent service to our customers around the world”.

The Diageo company has decided to make this investment in order to meet the global demand for Guinness products from domestic and export markets, with the expansion set to support accelerated production and product innovation. This will considerably improve efficiency and competitiveness in both areas. Construction will begin immediately and capacity at both facilities is expected to be operational in 2023.