Lidl bottling plant hailed as biggest investment since Toyota

Plans for a huge £50 million Derbyshire bottling plant for supermarket giant Lidl, which will create hundreds of jobs, have been confirmed.

MEG Group has announced it will push ahead with the project at Foston, which has been hailed as the largest single investment in South Derbyshire since the arrival of Toyota Manufacturing UK in the early 1990s.

The 50,000 sq metre water processing, bottling and distribution site will be constructed at Dove Valley Park, which is owned by Clowes Developments.

Paul Shanley, director at Clowes, said: “We have established an excellent working relationship with the MEG Group team, based in Germany, and more locally with South Derbyshire District Council, who have been instrumental in enabling this major inward investment for the region and indeed the UK.”

Frank McCardle, chief executive of South Derbyshire District Council, said: “This major inward investment has been secured through a dedicated approach, supported by the many benefits of locating in our district.

“Job creation is always welcome along with energy efficient technology that this plant will incorporate.”

Marketing Derby provided MEG Group with key market intelligence and skills data to help inform its decision.

Simon Kirk, inward investment executive at Marketing Derby, said: “We are delighted that MEG Group has chosen to invest in South Derbyshire, creating innovation and job creation in a key sector for our county.”

The planning application for the plant was submitted to South Derbyshire District Council and approved by the authority’s planning committee in December, 2019.

Since then, investigative works have been carried out on the land using boreholes to a depth of over 200ft to ascertain the water quality and capacity.

Despite Covid-19 and Brexit, preparatory works have continued during 2020 as MEG consider this to be a long-term investment into the UK.

Construction work on the plant is scheduled to start in the summer. Once up and running, it will supply Lidl with mineral water and soft drinks for its supermarkets across the UK and Ireland.

The news comes as other schemes at Dove Valley Park look set to come to fruition.

Recently, Clowes lodged a full planning application for a total of 190,000 sq ft of industrial/distribution warehouse for Plot 4 at Dove Valley Park, which is already home to firms including JCB Power Systems, Futaba International, Tophat, Truma and Kuehne and Nagel.

The scheme will involve major infrastructure investment that will benefit the remaining 40 acres of development land, which is available on a design and build basis.