Jobs Boost for Knowsley

A £70 million factory, one of the largest-ever overseas investments in Merseyside, is being 
built at Knowsley Industrial Park by international manufacturers, Sonae.

This major overseas investment comes at a time when manufacturing investment in the UK is in short supply.

The project is set to bring a welcome boost to the local jobs market, by generating long-term jobs at the factory itself, in related industries when the factory is operational, and in the initial construction phases.

Sonae (UK), part of the Sonae/Tafisa Group based in Portugal and Spain, is building a state of the art, hi-tech facility to produce wood particleboard on the former 35-acre Birds Eye site.

Leslie Robus, a director of Sonae (UK) says, "We have been in Merseyside for more than 10 years, and were keen to locate our new factory in the region".

"The infrastructure is ideal and with 70% of the UK's furniture industry within easy reach of the new plant in Knowsley, it brings us close to one of our major potential markets."

"And despite some of the negative perceptions of Merseyside that may be held by overseas investors, we have only had positive experience of doing business here," he adds.

Building work has begun on the 35-acre facility and it is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of this year. This new facility in the UK will add to the group's other manafacturing plants in England and Ireland and many other parts of the world.

David Henshaw, Chief Executive of Knowsley Borough Council said: "This is a significant investment for Knowsley, not only in financial terms but also because it is one of the first large scale manufacturing investments in the region for some considerable time."

"Our business devlopment team have worked hard to secure this investment which will significantly benefit the local economy while sending out clear messages about the quality of the labour market in the region."

Huyton Today hopes this is just one of many future investments in Knowsley.