Construction Boost for Food Manufacturing

The UK’s reliance on imported foods has recently come under the spotlight due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is now a focus to move to more domestic production, and this is set to bring in more opportunities in the construction sector due to food manufacturers and agricultural businesses gearing up to expand.

Food and drink is one of the UK’s largest industries. It generates an output of £108 billion and employs 4 million people throughout the country. In the early stages of the pandemic, the sight of empty supermarket shelves underlined the dangers the UK’s ‘food security’faced because of an over-reliance on imports, which currently meet around 39% of the country’s needs.

One of the key aims of the Government’s new Agriculture Bill – designed to replace the Common Agricultural Policy now that the UK has left the EU – is to boost productivity and maximise the potential of land for sustainable food production.

Clegg Food Projects, a specialist contractor in the sector, said that 2020 was set to be a busy year and that its current level of work pointed to another year of significant growth. A key project for the firm is a new £14 million flour mill and packaging plant for GR Wright in Harlow, where work is set to continue until summer 2020.

Another set of detailed plans have been approved in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, for a £10.7 million redevelopment of Long Clawson Dairy which will involve construction of new cheese maturation buildings and the relocation of offices. Tenders are yet to be invited for the projects which are intended to start this summer and continue for nine months.

On Humberside, Icelandic Seachill East has submitted plans for a £12.8 million project, which will involve a single-storey extension to its facility in Grimsby, with construction work possibly beginning later this year.

In Norfolk, Cranswich Country Foods has submitted plans for a £1.3 million extension to its plants in Thetford involving various infrastructure works. Work could possibly start later this year, and would continue for six months.

When it comes to smaller contractors, agricultural buildings can offer good opportunities for new construction work, with a plethora of smaller contracts available nationwide, which are at the pre-tender stage, and are valued below £250,000.

However, there are also larger agricultural contracts, an example of which is the plans being submitted for a new £1.4 million agricultural building for young dairy stock at Little Kington Farm at Gillingham, Dorset. Work is set to start in late 2020.

This piece originally was published by Glenigan

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