# Mars invests huge £161m into UK factory – but it’s nothing to do with chocolate

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/mars-invests-huge-161m-into-uk-factory-but-its-nothing-to-do-with-chocolate/
- Published: 2026-11-10T15:47:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T20:09:26+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Express (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2265061/Mars-invests-161m-factory-UK
- Topics: Culture, Food, Space, Technology, UK, World

## Key points

- Mars is investing £161 million in its Melton Mowbray pet food factory.
- The upgrade is expected to cut production waste by over 50%.
- More than 30 technical and engineering jobs are planned in year one.

## Summary

Mars plans to invest £161 million in its 75-year-old pet food factory in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, to modernise production. The project matters for local employment and the site’s role in Mars’s UK and European supply network.

The upgrade will add more than 30 skilled technical and engineering jobs in its first year and expand the apprentice scheme from 26 to 33 permanent roles by 2027. Smart optical sorting is expected to cut production waste by over 50%, while new pouch lines will support a move to fully recyclable mono-PP packaging. The investment brings Mars’s UK capital spending since 2021 to £661 million; the company employs more than 10,000 people and runs eight UK production facilities.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.