Arla Foods appoints contractors for new dairy

Arla Foods has appointed Caddick Construction Limited (CCL) and NG Bailey to build its £150 million fresh milk dairy in Aylesbury.

CCL has started on site as principal contractor, with works expecting to take 75 weeks to complete. The company will be responsible for the construction of the main dairy and the energy centre, as well as all ancillary buildings and associated site works. NG Bailey will be responsible for the mechanical and electrical engineering portion of the contract, starting on site in June 2012.

Jakob Nielsen, project director at Arla, said: “We’re extremely pleased to be working in partnership with both CCL and NG Bailey on this development. Both companies have a proven track record of delivering projects to the highest standards, and throughout the tender process they both demonstrated a good understanding of our building and environmental requirements.

“We have already worked with CCL on a number of other Arla projects, including Stourton dairy in Leeds and Westbury Dairies, and NG Bailey has also worked with us on various build phases at Stourton.”

Once completed, the dairy will process and package up to one billion litres of milk per year. It will provide a £20 million annual wages bill, which will have a positive impact on the local economy, and will also create around 700 new jobs and up to 1,000 construction jobs over the next 18 months.

Peter Lauritzen, CEO of Arla Foods UK, said: “We are delighted to be underway with this project. In addition to it being one of the largest construction projects in the UK, we have ambitions for it to be the world’s first zero carbon fresh milk dairy, which will help Arla achieve its growth ambitions in the UK.”

Both contractors were appointed following a six-month tender process, in which they were up against some of Europe’s leading constuction and mechanical and electrical companies.

In addition to being responsible for the installation of the mechanical and electrical works, such as boilers, air compressors, ventilation and lighting in the energy centre, across the site and throughout the main dairy building, NG Bailey will also be responsible for wastewater and effluent treatment and recycling. Alongside the engineering division, the offsite manufacture and IT services arms of the company will also play its part in the development.

NG Bailey has also been awarded the facilities management contract, which will be serviced by the company’s facilities services team.

Andrew Murray, managing director of CCL, said: “We are very excited by the challenge of delivering Arla’s aspirations for Aylesbury dairy and delighted to be partnering with them again on another major project. We have worked hard to win the project and look forward to teaming up with NG Bailey and Arla to make it a success and extend our expertise in this specialist sector of construction.”

David Hurcomb, NG Bailey’s CEO, said: “We are thrilled to be awarded this contract and as we gear up to start work on site, are very excited to be playing such a major part in this development. In what is a truly integrated design, build, operate and maintain contract for us – it demonstrates the breadth of capability we can offer our clients.”

Arla Foods UK plc is home to some of the UK’s leading dairy brands including Cravendale, Lurpak and Anchor. Processing approximately two billion litres of milk a year Arla continues to be one of the UK’s leading dairy companies and a supplier of fresh liquid milk and cream to the top seven retailers.

Over 2,500 daily deliveries are made directly to stores nationwide and Arla brands can be found across the dairy category. As well as the leader of the butter, spreads and margarine sector, and a major supplier of other added value products including flavoured milk and cheese, Arla continues to build working relationships with Arla Foods Milk Partnership, a unique group of dairy farmers, which supplies around 90 per cent of Arla's total milk requirements.

Behind this leading business is a team of circa 2,800 people across the UK located at our dairies, distribution centres and head office.