Investment has cider firm fizzing

A three-year investment programme costing in excess of £10 million (€12m) has transformed a UK cider maker’s production facilities, delivering ‘the capacity and capability to out perform a buoyant cider sector’.

Aston Manor’s new facility in Devon has increased production, and now packages and distributes four million pints of cider a week globally.

“What we have achieved has been better than we might have hoped – which gives us the confidence to invest further and make an excellent operation even better,” says Aston Manor managing director Peter Ellis.

Total sales for Aston Manor were £79 million (€97m) in 2010, £106 million (€130m) in 2011 and the business says it will post further growth in 2012 in a market sector that is flat after several years of exceptional performance.

“What particularly excites me about performance at the Tiverton site is that on every measure – not just volumes produced – we are delivering great results with more to come,” adds Ellis.