Unilever has today (21 May) announced the completion of a £150m upgrade of its Port Sunlight site in Liverpool City Region, home to such major fmcg brands as Persil, Cif, Tresemmé and Lynx Body Wash.
The investment includes high-tech manufacturing improvements to the vast site’s homecare factory, which makes Persil, Surf and Comfort laundry products. There is also a new automated distribution centre connected to Port Sunlight’s three factories.
Advances in the laundry factory will increase laundry capsule production threefold – from 660 per minute to about 2,000. It will also enable the manufacture of smaller, more complex capsule formats, supporting the launch of Persil’s four-chamber capsules unveiled in April.
The automated DC is directly connected to Port Sunlight’s factories. It is set to reduce the requirement for lorries to move goods between factories and DCs in other locations, delivering sustainability and safety benefits. Spanning 10,000 sq m, it is powered by 2,000 metres of automated conveyors and eight 30m-high stacking cranes, handling up to 17,000 pallets – equating to 13,600 tonnes of product – each week.
By taking hundreds of lorries off the road each week, the new DC would deliver an estimated 27% reduction in primary logistics, saving 827 tonnes of CO2 emissions, Unilever said. The DC is powered by 100% renewable energy via solar panels, heat pumps and solar reflectance painting.
Together, the investments underlined “the strategic importance of the historic site to the company’s UK and European operations” and would “support the next generation of Persil laundry capsules and strengthen Unilever’s UK supply chain, from manufacturing through to delivery to retail customers”, added the fmcg giant.
“This is a landmark moment for Port Sunlight,” said Marc Woodward, head of Unilever UK. “The completion of investments in homecare manufacturing and the opening of a new flagship distribution centre will support the growth of our business and reinforce Port Sunlight’s role as a strategic hub for our UK and European operations.”
Madeleine McLeod, factory director for Port Sunlight homecare, added: “The investment completion we are announcing today makes us future-fit, boosting our capacity and efficiency as we roll out our latest homecare innovations.
Port Sunlight represented “Unilever’s proud manufacturing heritage in the north west – a heritage we are taking forward with our talented workforce, supported by the latest in high-tech automation and cutting-edge technology”.
Liverpool City Region had “a proud industrial heritage”, said its mayor, Steve Rotheram. “Unilever has been part of that story for generations, supporting thousands of jobs and helping to put Liverpool City Region on the map as a centre for manufacturing and innovation.
“This investment is a strong vote of confidence in our region as a place where global businesses can grow, innovate and create opportunity. It will help support high-quality jobs, apprenticeships and skills for local people, while strengthening our position as a leader in advanced manufacturing and R&D.”
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