A ground breaking ceremony has heralded the start of construction of Brioche Pasquier’s new bakery production facility in Milton Keynes.
Commercial Developer, Hampton Brook has brought this 230,000 sq ft development to fruition following a grant of planning permission for a two phase development that will see Brioche Pasquier open its first factory in the UK.
A number of key stakeholders met at the Wymbush site to see Brioche Pasquier’s CEO Pascal Pasquier do the honours with a ceremonial spade. Amongst those senior figures that attended was the Mayor of Milton Keynes, Councillor Brian White, the Chief Executive of Milton Keynes Council, David Hill; and Ian Jackson, Development Director of Hampton Brook.
The ceremony marked the beginning of the first phase of the construction of an initial 160,000 sq ft facility, with building works due to be completed by the end of the year. Brioche Pasquier will then commence its fit-out of the production lines, with the facility being operational by December 2015 – creating in the region of 150 jobs. A further phase of 70,000 sq ft is proposed within five years.
Brioche Pasquier, a French family bakery since 1936, has been present in the UK for over a decade and sells a range of French bakery products to major UK retailers and distributors. The commercial team, already based in Milton Keynes, has assisted in the strong growth of the company, which now exceeds a £36m turnover.
Pascal Pasquier said: “We will continue our development in the UK through this new production site. Our objective is to adapt to the British market whilst holding onto our French traditions of production using our unique baking methods. The new factory will also enable us to become closer to our customers and distributors within the UK.”
The Brioche Pasquier group is a family business with its headquarters in the west of France. The group currently has 17 productions plants, the majority in France, two in Spain and one in California. The group has strong ambitions to continue its international development and the UK is a key target for growth.
Pam Gosal, MK Council Head of Corporate Economic Development & Inward Investment, added: “I welcome the start of this project and the start of something great in terms of job creation in Milton Keynes. Inward investment is a crucial economic driver for our local economy, with investment by overseas-owned firms playing a key role in the economy – along with other ‘home grown’ companies and numerous other local success stories. We look forward to attracting more inward investment like this to Milton Keynes and wish Brioche Pasquier and its new workforce all the best in their new facility.”
Ian Jackson, Development Director of Hampton Brook, said: “We are regenerating a brown field site following the closure of Alps electronics four years ago. We are now delivering new investment, a new manufacturing facility and new jobs to this site. We are excited that we have been able to place yet another international firm in the City and anticipate that our close relationship with the Council will enable us to continue to deliver inward investment opportunities.”
Hampton Brook will construct Brioche Pasquier’s new facility in a joint venture partnership with Roxhill. ES Group acted for BPUK.
