Unilever has confirmed the completion of a £150 million investment at its Port Sunlight facility in Wirral. The site produces brands including Persil, Comfort, Cif, and Lynx body wash.
Manufacturing Improvements
The project includes cutting-edge manufacturing improvements in the site's Home Care factory, which produces the Persil, Surf, and Comfort laundry brands, alongside a new state-of-the-art automated distribution centre linked directly to Port Sunlight's three factories.
Unilever says the investments will help develop the next generation of Persil laundry capsules and bolster Unilever's UK supply chain, from production right through to delivery to retail partners.
Quotes from Leaders
Marc Woodward, head of Unilever UK, said: "This is a landmark moment for Port Sunlight. The completion of investments in Home Care manufacturing and the opening of a new flagship distribution centre will support the growth of our business and reinforce Port Sunlight's role as a strategic hub for our UK and European operations."
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: "Our region has a proud industrial heritage, and Unilever has been part of that story for generations – supporting thousands of jobs and helping to put the Liverpool City Region on the map as a centre for manufacturing and innovation. This investment is a strong vote of confidence in our region as a place where global businesses can grow, innovate and create opportunity. It will help support high-quality jobs, apprenticeships and skills for local people, while strengthening our position as a leader in advanced manufacturing and R&D. Just as importantly, this new facility shows how economic growth and sustainability can go hand in hand. By cutting hundreds of lorry journeys from our roads each week, Unilever is supporting our target to reach net zero by 2035, improve air quality for local people, and support ambitions for a cleaner, greener city region."
Production Capacity Tripled
The investment in Port Sunlight's laundry capsule factory will triple production capacity — from 660 capsules per minute to approximately 2,000 — while enabling the production of smaller, more intricate capsule designs. This backs the rollout of Persil's latest advanced four-chamber capsules, which incorporate powerful new cleaning technologies created at Unilever's R&D facilities in Port Sunlight.
New Distribution Centre
The new distribution centre links directly to the on-site factories and will reduce the need for lorries to transport goods between the manufacturing plants and warehouses in alternative locations, with the objective of delivering environmental and safety advantages.
Covering 10,000 square metres, it is driven by 2,000 metres of automated conveyor systems and eight 30-metre-high stacking cranes, processing up to 17,000 pallets — equivalent to 13,600 tonnes of product — every week.
Lee Mawson, head of customer operations at Unilever UK and Ireland, said: "This is a big step forward for us in our UK and European supply chain. The distribution centre will boost capacity, efficiency and service levels for our retail customers, improving product availability and enabling direct dispatch to retailers in the UK and a number of European markets."
Madeleine McLeod, factory director for Port Sunlight Home Care, said: "The investment completion we are announcing today makes us future-fit, boosting our capacity and efficiency as we roll out our latest home care innovations. Port Sunlight represents Unilever's proud manufacturing heritage in the North-West - a heritage we are taking forward with our talented workforce, supported by the latest in high-tech automation and cutting-edge technology."
