Work starts on dairy firm's £90m centre of excellence
The new centre of excellence is being created at Arla's Lockerbie creamery
- Published
Arla Foods, the UK's largest dairy cooperative, has started work on a new centre of excellence at its creamery in Lockerbie.
The company plans to invest £90m in the facility which will focus on the production of UHT and lactose-free milk.
The site is expected to create about 90 jobs.
Arla Foods has also completed a £34m upgrade to the creamery's cheddar plant, which is one of the largest cheese-making facilities in the UK.
Executive vice president David Boulanger said Lockerbie was an important milk-producing area.
He added: "We're very proud because we have a talented workforce here in Lockerbie and this future investment will attract new people, and we have programmes to get people from the whole of the UK into our UK sites and Lockerbie will be one of them."
Arla Foods boss David Boulanger said the Lockerbie site was important in terms of milk production
An upgrade of Lockerbie's cheddar plant has been completed
The creamery, which was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth 50 years ago, employs 242 staff.
The site produces 600 million litres of milk and 42,000 tonnes of cheddar annually.
Dairy production is one of Dumfries and Galloway's most important industries, with the region supplying about 80% of Scotland's overall milk production.
Arla is a farmer-owned dairy company and collects from 231 farms across the south-west of Scotland.
Farmer Mark Stewart has welcomed the investment
Mark Stewart, who farms at Lochmaben- just a few miles from the creamery - welcomed the company's investment in Lockerbie.
He said: "For us as farmers it's massive, because it gives us the confidence to invest in our business, knowing that they have the confidence to invest for us - to take our milk in the future.
"They've given us the opportunity to expand and make our businesses more profitable."
Yorkshire site
The investment in Lockerbie has had an impact on Arla Foods' site at Settle in North Yorkshire, which is at risk of closure.
A spokesperson said: "We can confirm that we will proceed with our plans for developing the Arla Lockerbie site to include Arla Settle's production portfolio.
"However, we remain open to exploring alternative uses for the Settle site during the transition phase.
"Understandably, this remains a period of uncertainty for our colleagues, and our foremost priority is to continue providing support as we navigate the subsequent stages of the consultation process."