UK's first sugar factory at risk of closure

7 hours ago

Owen SennittNorfolk

News image — Sugar storage silos at the Cantley site

Steve Silk/BBC Sugar storage silos at Cantley sugar factory with a river in the foreground on a clear day — Sugar storage silos at the Cantley site

More than 100 jobs could be at risk after British Sugar announced plans to shut one of its four factories.

The firm is proposing closing its facility at Cantley in the Norfolk Broads to "improve efficiency and support the long-term future" of the UK sugar industry.

The Norfolk site was the first sugar-processing factory to open in the UK and has been in operation for more than a century but it could close from the end of February 2027.

Jerome Mayhew, Conservative MP for Broadland and Fakenham, called the news "devastating" and said it could have wider cost implications for Norfolk farmers.

Steve Silk/BBC A factory site with a large metal cylinder and buildings can be seen from the other side of a river, with clouds of steam rising into the air on a sunny day. — Cantley's sugar beet processing factory has been in operation for more than 100 years

A consultation will be held over the proposals, which would concentrate British Sugar's beet processing operations at Wissington in west Norfolk, Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and Newark in Nottinghamshire.

Keith Packer, managing director at British Sugar, said: "This proposal has not been taken lightly.

"It follows a thorough review of the business and reflects a combination of external pressures, including low average European sugar prices, high energy costs and a market-wide, long-term gradual decline in volumes over time."

British Sugar said all employees at Cantley could be affected and that discussions would begin with Unite, the workers' recognised union, and other employee representatives.

UK Parliament Jerome Mayhew looks towards the camera and smiles, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie — Jerome Mayhew, Conservative MP for Broadland and Fakenham

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Mayhew is calling for an urgent meeting with British Sugar, which he said told him that the firm had been loss-making for the past three years as demand for sugar is on a long-term decline.

He said: "The sugar factory at Cantley dominates the village. It's been right at the heart of our farming industry for over a century now.

"All the sugar beet that comes in, comes from the farms around Norfolk, and that's going to have a very significant impact on the wider farming community.

"I want to challenge them and some of the assumptions they've made around Cantley, to make sure that every stone has been turned over to see whether this plant can be saved."

Mayhew said the closure could mean higher haulage costs for farmers to reach the next nearest processing facility and warned it would have a "wider economic hit" for secondary businesses which support the processing at Cantley.

Owen Sennitt/BBC Looking at the Cantley sugar factory from upstream, with its buildings, the river and a boat in view — The factory has been a dominant feature of the village and in the Broads landscape for more than a century

The factory was opened in 1912 and sits on the banks of the River Yare in the Broads.

Before lorries became the preferred mode of transportation, wherries - large sailing boats used in the Broads - would have transported goods to and from the factory.

Today, it produces an average of 130,000 tonnes of sugar every year.

Last year the site underwent an £11m upgrade to improve its energy efficiency.

Cantley will continue to operate as normal this year before the future of the site is decided.