The Business Secretary Sajid Javid visited the home of Cadbury in Birmingham to open a new state-of-the-art production line at its chocolate factory last Friday.
The new facility has been installed as part of a £75 million investment in Bournville by Mondelēz International to make its Cadbury Roses and Heroes assortments and Cadbury Dairy Milk bars. Announced by the company last year, it secures the next generation of chocolate manufacturing at the site.
As the champion for the area inside government, the Business Secretary called on the Midlands to act as an engine for growth, discussing how the government can work with manufacturers to encourage greater inward investment and export more from the UK.
Mary Barnard, president of Northern Europe at Mondelēz International, added: “We were delighted to welcome the Secretary of State to Bournville to officially open the first of our new state-of-the-art manufacturing lines. This marks an important milestone in our journey to secure the next generation of manufacturing at this iconic site. Our £75 million investment into Bournville is not just about new machinery, it’s also about investing in the people who work here. We welcomed the opportunity for Mr Javid to visit our new training facility and meet with apprentices and operators to hear first-hand about the new skills, knowledge and qualifications they are gaining.”
During his visit the Business Secretary got a taste for the business by touring the production line. He also visited a new training facility and met apprentices and staff.
In 24 hours at Bournville the factory makes around:
- 1.2 million Cadbury Creme Eggs
- 5.5 million blocks of chocolate
- 10 million assortment units (Cadbury Roses and Heroes)
- more than 400 million Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons
- over 1 million Wispa bars
