Great British Brands: Chancellor welcomes Weetabix drive to export to China
The Chancellor's visit to the company in Corby kicked off his Great British Brands tour, aimed at supporting Britain’s best known companies.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, today (Thursday 4 September) visited Weetabix’s Corby production centre as the company launched 6 new Alpen Bars aimed exclusively at China.
The launch includes the green tea and dark chocolate flavoured bar and heralds Weetabix’s first product range specifically formulated for the Chinese market.
The decision is part of the company’s long term growth strategy to advance its presence in fast growing emerging markets and will help secure employment in the local area.
The visit kicked off the Chancellor’s Great British Brands tour aimed at supporting some of Britain’s best known companies who are all today making announcements aimed at creating jobs, helping people into work, driving exports, and making the UK a leader in science and innovation.
Weetabix, founded over 80 years ago, employs 1200 people in the UK and currently exports to over 80 countries.
Welcoming the launch, George Osborne said:
It is great to see an iconic British company like Weetabix launching innovative new products to help them grow and expand into new markets. This is exactly the kind of innovation that will help Britain earn its way in the world.
Getting Britain exporting more is key to our long term economic plan which is why at the last Budget I announced a series of measures including overhauling UK Export Finance, and further boosting funding for UK Trade and Investment to support companies that are seeking to export.
I am delighted to see an iconic brand like Weetabix doing just that.
Giles Turrell, Chief Executive of Weetabix said:
We are very excited about the opportunity for our brands in the Chinese breakfast cereal and snacking market and will continue to invest in our products, adapting these where relevant, to allow us to build a successful long term future.
International expansion provides exciting new opportunities for Weetabix and our staff, and as the Chancellor has highlighted today, such innovation helps to secure jobs at our Corby and Burton Latimer sites in the UK.
Image by kevsexotics on Flickr. Used under creative commons.