Company keen to open new factory (From Western Telegraph)

Company keen to open new factory

Up to 50 jobs will be created in Haverfordwest if a wholesale vegetable distributor presses ahead with expansion into the added-value premium market.

The company has asked for anonymity at this stage in its negotiations with Pembrokeshire County Council, but admits it is keen to buy a substantial factory unit at the Withybush Park East industrial estate.

The former 2,700 square metre Abbey Textiles factory is owned by the county council and has been vacant since the failure of that company two years ago.

The authority has turned down offers from a ten-pin bowling alley operator and a furniture retailer in return for an annual rent of £37,500.

The offer now on the table supports Pembrokeshires agri-industry and would meet the councils policy of sustainable development in the agricultural industry.

Director of development Roger Barrett-Evans says the company is hoping to set up a research and development department to add value to the premium market sector of prepared food.

It already employs 13 staff and could create a further 50 over the next five years. The Pembrokeshire Business Initiative is fully behind its expansion programme.

They have advised that the additional space provided by the proposed purchase is vital to accommodate contracts currently being negotiated which would immediately create six or seven new jobs, says Mr Barrett-Evans.

The company will now present a business plan to the council to support its employment forecast.

Mr Barrett-Evans report on the proposed sale of the factory unit was presented to the councils property management sub-committee yesterday (Tuesday).