Global food company to open £100m Rochdale factory

Around 300 employees will be bringing home the bacon when Danish Crown’s nearly 330,000 sq ft pork processing facility at Kingsway Business Park is operational in August 2023.

Danish Crown has taken a repairing and insuring lease on Monarch 330, Greater Manchester Pension Fund’s industrial project on 17 acres off John Milne Avenue at Kingway Business Park. Monarch 330 was built by Winvic.

JLL and Avison Young represented GMPF on the leasing deal with Danish Crown.

Danish Crown said it was investing £100m into opening the factory at Monarch 330, which will specialise in producing bacon and gammon products.

The processing plant will have a fitness and wellness space for workers, as well as a canteen.

The facility will be fully powered by renewable energy, according to Danish Crown. The food company also said that it would recover heat from the plant’s utility systems to boost the facility’s heating systems and provide hot water.

Other sustainability measures include using ammonia as a refrigerant and reducing food waste by using offcuts in other products.

Monarch 330 already has 15 EV charge points and was built to achieve BREEAM Very Good certification and an EPC rating of A.

Jais Valeur, chief executive of Danish Crown, said: “This investment forms the next step in our commitment to the UK market, bringing our customers a reliable, transparent supply of high-quality bacon to help meet demand, produced to high sustainability and welfare standards.

“The future of meat will be based on high-quality products that are as sustainable as possible,” Valeur continued.

“We know this is an ambition shared by many of our customers in the UK and with this new factory, we look forward to working more closely with them towards a more sustainable future for food production.” 

Rochdale Development Agency and Rochdale Council worked together to recruit Danish Crown to the town.

Cllr John Blundell, cabinet member for the economy and regeneration at Rochdale, praised the number of jobs that will be created by Danish Crown.

“This is welcome news for the people of the borough, with many seeking an opportunity for a new career,” he said.

The 420-acre Kingsway Business Park is owned by The Kingsway Partnership, made up of RDA, Rochdale Council, Homes England, and Wilson Bowden Developments.

Kingsway Business Park offers 3.4m sq ft of floorspace. Current tenants include Amazon, Asda, and JD Sports.