Vegan food manufacturer VBites has bought a former PepsiCo factory in County Durham in England’s north east.
The Brighton, UK-based Vegan Bites – run by animal rights advocate and Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills – has vowed to bring jobs back to the area after deciding to manufacture products in the north east of England rather than, as originally planned, in Austria.
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PepsiCo closed the Walkers Crisps facility in Peterlee last year leading to the loss of 355 jobs.
Mills, who comes from the area, said she acquired the six-hectare site after hearing that a friend who had worked there had lost her job.
Speaking on television channel ITV‘s This Morning programme, she said “I go back to my home town – and I am about to build a factory in Austria – and I find out my friend has lost her job. So I bought the Walkers Crisps factory to bring all the jobs back again.”
VBites sells a range of plant-based meals. It already has two UK factories, one in Corby, Northamptonshire, and another in the north east, near Newcastle.
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By GlobalDataIn September the company announced it was entering three central European markets after securing a deal with retailer Hofer, a subsidiary of German value supermarket chain Aldi.
