2 Sisters have announced that they are creating 200 new jobs at their site in Carlisle, after a major investment into the facility.
The prepared meals site will see the addition of new processing equipment and packing lines to create increased production as well as improved procedures.
New M&S contract
The firm won a contract to supply Marks & Spencer with new product ranges, which prompted the investment as well as the opening of new lines. The £7 million put into the project has been spent on a new state-of-the-art vegetable processing facility, new cooling tunnels, new coating systems, two new automated packing lines, and steam-injected kettles used for both cooking and cooling sauces.
More than 200 food jobs will now be added to the Cavaghan & Gray site in order to run the area. They will be creating a range of 30 new products, focusing on gastro and fish meals combined with vegetables. This adds to a current roster of 1,250 staff for a new total of 1,450, making the site an even more important employer for the local economy.
The company has already announced that the new roles will be in a number of different positions – including operational, technical, and supply chain jobs. This means that there will be a number of opportunities on offer no matter what skills you may have, so it’s a great chance for those in the local area to find a new position.
Ronald Kers, the CEO of 2 Sisters Food Group, said: “Our vision is to create a truly world-class business that is trusted to deliver, so we are delighted such a prestigious customer as M&S recognises and values us as a reliable partner, with the ability to create quality food, for the right price in a sustainable and transparent way. Delicious, healthy, convenient and affordable food is increasingly being sought by consumers and our business can work extremely closely with customers like M&S to create own-label brands that truly differentiate themselves from competitors.”
Hard-working team
William Duncanson is the meal solutions business unit director. He was very complimentary of the staff who already work at the site, clearly feeling that their work had contributed to the new opportunities. He added, “The team here at Cavaghan & Gray are enormously hard-working and this investment will allow us continue doing what we love, producing tasty, high-quality food that customers love. We are extremely proud to have worked closely with M&S for many years and to have been trusted with the production of even more exciting food ranges. We take a huge amount of pride in creating their quality products.”
Kate Stein is the head of food technology on the M&S side. She said, “We are transforming our supply base to create a faster, more commercial network, which will improve value and availability for our customers. The new site extension at Carlisle will help us react more quickly to consumer tastes and develop and deliver great-quality, innovative products to market.”
This is just the latest in a series of rapid ups and downs for the 2 Sisters group. They have been through a lot in the last twelve months, from a hidden camera investigation that exposed serious health and safety breaches at a chicken processing plant to the loss of their then-CEO and plant closures. On the other side, they have also seen new sites, new investments, and more jobs added to various of their other sites. Whether the overall fortunes of the group are going up or down remains to be seen, with so many conflicting angles to the story.
