Plans for new £100m Hull science research centre
- Published
RB said plans to invest £100m at its site in Hull would secure 1,200 jobs
A consumer health company has announced a £100m investment plan for a new research and development centre in Hull.
RB, formerly Reckitt Benckiser, said it wanted to build a "centre of scientific excellence".
The company said the plan would secure the long term future of 1,200 jobs.
Chancellor George Osborne welcomed the announcement, saying it would help the UK become a "world leader in science and innovation".
A spokesperson for RB said the new centre, in Dansom Lane, would become a "global technical innovation hub" for products such as Nurofen and Strepsils.
'Innovative solutions'
RB Global CEO, Rakesh Kapoor, said: "Growing our global consumer health business is at the heart of our vision to provide innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes."
The company said it hoped building work would start next year and the centre is expected to be fully operational by 2018.
Money will also be spent on upgrading current facilities in Hull and completing work on general improvements across the site.
Mr Osborne said: "A key part of our long term economic plan is making the UK a world leader in science and innovation, and the new state-of-the art centre of scientific excellence will help us deliver this."
Reckitt & Sons, which merged with German company Benckiser in 1999, was set up by Issac Reckitt in Hull in 1840.