CRACKING ON WITH JOBS CREATION: (left-right) Ed Hutchinson, project manager for Henry Boot Development Ltd, Councillor Joan Dixon, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Jobs, Economy and Transport, Charles Crawford, Manager Director of Ready Egg Products, Councillor Anne Western, Leader of Derbyshire County Council, and Tony Shaw, Director of Henry Boot Construction
Work has started on a new £8m manufacturing facility which will bring another 50 jobs to Derbyshire’s flagship regenerate site.
Northern Ireland’s biggest egg processor Ready Egg Products has selected Derbyshire County Council’s Markham Vale site for its new manufacturing facility – creating 50 jobs for local people over the next two years.
The company chose the site, next to the purpose built junction 29A of the M1, for its excellent transport links ¬¬- saying it will help provide a more efficient service to its clients, 80% of which are based in the UK mainland.
Councillor Joan Dixon, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Jobs, Economy and Transport, said: “I am delighted to welcome Ready Egg Products to Markham Vale for the development of its new base which will bring 50 new job opportunities.
“A lot of hard work has gone into getting Markham Vale to the stage it is during extremely tough economic times and there have been some very positive recent developments with more in the pipeline.
“Everything we have done at Markham is geared towards long-term job creation and strong foundations are in place. During the last year alone over 500 new jobs have been announced and we will continue to work hard to attract more companies with the aim of bringing 5,000 jobs for local people.”
Work is underway on a state-of-the-art 34,700 sq ft warehouse on nearly three acres of land, which is expected to be ready for business by June 2014.
Ready Egg, which was set up as a family operation in 2004, currently employs around 80 people at its Northern Ireland headquarters near Enniskillen.
It processes over 1.4m eggs per day for a number of high profile clients to use in food-making including cakes, pastries, pies, mayonnaise and meringues.
Charles Crawford, Managing Director of Ready Egg Products, said: “This is an exciting development for Ready Egg Products and we’re pleased to be bringing 50 jobs for local people to Markham Vale.
“Our new processing site will give our customers – the vast majority of which are in the mainland UK – a better service at a better price.
“Markham Vale is the ideal fit for us because of how close it is to the motorway network, meaning significant savings on transport. Having a purpose-built facility to exact specifications will also streamline operations meaning a more efficient service.”
The county council is working with development partner Henry Boot Developments Ltd which is managing and marketing Markham Vale.
Ben Ward, Senior Development Surveyor at Henry Boot Developments Ltd, said: “This is more great news for Markham Vale. Ready Egg is the latest business to choose Markham Vale as a location due to its excellent transport links to the M1. We are currently finalising discussions with several other occupiers and hope to be able to release further details soon.”
Henry Boot Construction won the contract to construct the building which will accommodate Ready Egg’s operational needs and take 34 weeks to complete.
Markham Vale has been granted Enterprise Zone status by the Government, meaning firms moving to some areas of the site can apply for Enhanced Capital Allowances – offering tax relief for major investment in plant and machinery.
Source: Derbyshire County Council
