Papa John’s spends dough on a new plant

16th July 2009

Papa Johns will be investing over £5m in a new fresh dough facility to support its ambitious growth plans for the UK. The company is investing in a new Quality Control Centre, including dough plant, which will cater for the expanding company’s production needs going forward.  The detached factory on Northfield Drive in Milton Keynes covers nearly 50 thousand square feet, providing literally acres of space to produce 100% fresh dough for Papa John’s stores across the UK. The plant is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010. Papa John’s investment in the new plant follows the opening of 17 stores in this country since the beginning of 2009. The company is aiming to have opened 40 new stores by the end of the year.

The site of the new dough factory enjoys a prime location close to Junction 14 of the M1, making it the ideal distribution base. The M25, M6 and A14 are all within close range, and the centre of Milton Keynes is less than two miles away. The site will also result in the creation of at least 20 jobs.

The Quality Control Centre, which is situated in a prominent corner position, is fully secure and features freezer and chill stores, a detached laboratory and a staff canteen. There is also a significant amount of office space on the site.

Papa John’s Pizza’s UK Managing Director, Ian Saunders, said: “Our new dough plant will provide more than adequate space to cope with our expansion plans, and we are delighted to have secured such a fantastic site. The excellent facilities at the factory will allow us greater control over quality and, as Papa John’s is famous for using 100% fresh dough 100% of the time, this plant is vital to that ethos going forward.

“We are aiming to open another 20 stores across the UK and Ireland this year, bringing our total to more than 150. We expect to be able to continue this momentum and our five year goal is to have at least 300 stores open by the end of 2013.

“We will therefore ‘grow into’ this plant, and believe it will allow us to reach for the sky in the UK pizza delivery market. The purchase of the site has created a huge buzz in the company because, following on from a series of strong financial results, it is further proof that Papa John’s UK is going places. We are very much looking forward to moving in in a few weeks time.”