The Johnston family (L-R Richard Johnston, Fiona Johnston and Maddy Johnston) outside the new £1m factory
Bird seed manufacturer Johnston & Jeff is undergoing a £1m factory expansion.
The East Yorkshire-based business, which is celebrating its 140th anniversary, makes feed for garden birds, parrots and aviary birds, as well as handcrafted hutches, bird tables and nest boxes. Its clients include independent pet shops across the UK.
The expansion will include a new 12,000q ft warehouse and a four-fold increase in pallet bays from 485 to 2,000.
It will also see new offices built on the site on the Gateway Business Park, in Gilberdyke, and fund new machinery including two computer-controlled multi-head weighers, a new bagging line and a palletising robot that loads the sacks on to pallets.
MEETING RISING DEMAND
Managing director Richard Johnston said it was the biggest investment the company had made since moving from its original premises in Hull in 2002.
“We’ve seen significant growth in all our key markets and that is what has prompted us to make this investment,” he said. “We’ve committed to ensuring we can continue to meet the rising demand for bird feed of the highest quality and expanding our factory and investing in new, state-of-the-art equipment is the best way we can achieve that.”
Johnston & Jeff employs 50 staff, who make around 500 tonnes of premium bird food each week, across more than 300 product lines.
The company has also launched a new, limited edition product called No Mess, No Grow Wild Bird Food, specifically formulated not to germinate when dropped on lawns, beds or borders.
