Operational and logistics changes pay off for Barr

Chief executive Roger White said the company's strong financial performance had delivered double digit sales and profit growth, despite the challenging macro economic environment. A. G. Barr had also made significant investments in its operations and supply chain, which would give it the ability to improve service to customers and drive efficiency in the future, he went on. The investment programme in the company's Cumbernauld production facility had progressed well, as had a move into third party primary logistics and storage. These two major projects had enabled the planned closure of the firm's Mansfield site. " It is never an easy position when it comes to finally closing a site, especially one which has continued to deliver exemplary performance across the last twelve months despite the impending planned changes," White said. "The full team at Mansfield are due our gratitude and praise for all that they have done, in particular during the past few months. We have supported our Mansfield employees in this challenging time and are delighted that many have found suitable alternative future employment in the area." The installation and commissioning of two new major filling lines and associated services had proved to be a tough challenge but the operational project had been delivered in full, on time and on budget. The capital investment at Cumbernauld focused on new filling/blowing equipment that would enable increased volume, reduce the usage of the bottle-making material PET (Poly Ethylene Terephthalate) by 7% on the new machines as well as reducing the energy used in the production of these bottles by 12.5%. These changes had proved to be crucial in helping to offset some of the immediate cost pressures being felt in material costs in the early stages of the 2011/12 financial year. The company is also finalising plans for wind turbine power generation at the plant. Moving to third party primary logistics and storage was a step towards improving load consolidation and customer service and to allow for higher volumes of movement within a more efficient transport network, the company said. Sales for the year grew by 10.4%, making full year sales of £222.4m producing a 13% increase in pre-tax profit to £31.6m.