Diageo announces £24.5m investment at its Belfast beer packaging site

British multinational beverage alcohol company Diageo is making a £40.5m investment to expand capacity at its packaging facilities in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Runcorn, England.

The plans are set to support the world-wide growth of Guinness Draught, Guinness Zero and Guinness Nitrosurge.

The facility in Belfast will see its canning production more than double with a £24.5 million investment that will convert existing warehouses into a new state-of-the-art packaging line capable of producing 72,000 cans per hour.

A further £16 million will be invested at the Runcorn site to significantly upgrade its bottling line and expand warehousing capacity.

Diageo is making the investment to meet global demand for Guinness products from domestic and export markets, with the expansion set to support accelerated production and product innovation.

It will enhance efficiency and competitiveness at both sites.

Construction is set to begin immediately with capacity at both facilities expected to come online in 2023. 

Commenting Aidan Crowe, operations director for Beer at Diageo, said: “This expansion is a significant investment in the development of our packaging facilities.

“The projects in Belfast and Runcorn will support our growth ambitions, helping us to deliver end-to-end product innovation, and reinforce our agility to meet demand and provide excellent service to our customers around the world.”

Highlighting that the investment will ‘further support our supply chains and local communities’, Deirdre Delaney, operations manager at Diageo’s Belfast packaging site, added: “This is an exciting time for our site in Belfast as we invest in our business to support the growth of our business.

“We contribute considerably to the local economy in Belfast and the £24.5 investment will further support our supply chains and local communities.”

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