Work starts on £24m Advanced Manufacturing Centre
A GROUNDBREAKING ceremony at the Unilever’s £24m Advanced Manufacturing Centre has taken place.
The 70,000sq ft facility in Port Sunlight is due for completion in 2017. Roughly the same size as a football pitch, it will be a state-of-the-art pilot plant enabling scientists and engineers to test new ideas during personal care and home product development on a factory scale.
The appointment of contractor BAM Construction means work is now underway on the centre at Unilever’s research and development site.
Senior company and construction representatives were on hand to mark the occasion for what is a new milestone in the 127-year history of the site and the latest in a line of recent investments into the Port Sunlight hub totalling £200m.
Cameron Jones, Unilever Port Sunlight site leader, said: “Today heralds a new phase on our journey of research and development at our historic Port Sunlight home.
“In building the Centre we are renewing our commitment to R&D in the UK and the North West. From here we will have the capacity to innovate products with increased speed and efficiency, which we will turn into winning products to be enjoyed by tens of millions both here and around the world.
“The Centre will complement existing and new facilities such as the Materials Innovation Factory currently under construction at the University of Liverpool due to open in early 2017, where new materials will be explored by our scientists that could then be further developed here at the Unilever Advanced Manufacturing Centre.”
BAM is already active on the Materials Innovation Factory in Liverpool which will be occupied by Unilever scientists.
In the wider Liverpool area BAM is known for refurbishing the Walker Art Gallery, the massive Mann Island project, Liverpool Community College, and the Ellesmere Port campus of West Cheshire College.
