Metsä Tissue
UK premier Rishi Sunak has welcomed Metsä Tissue’s decision to select Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire as the location for a major planned new European investment.
This announcement is another example of the UK being the first choice for European investment and delivers on my commitment to grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country
Commenting on the announcement of a multi-million pound investment by the tissue paper manufacturer and plans to create more than 400 jobs over the next decade, the Prime Minister said: “Metsä Tissue’s investment is good for Yorkshire, good for our economy and good for sustainability. This announcement is another example of the UK being the first choice for European investment and delivers on my commitment to grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country”.
Metsä Tissue CEO, Esa Kaikkonen, added: “We are delighted to announce our plan to invest in a world-class production site in Goole. This exciting investment would bring the UK and Finland together through combining the sustainable raw material of fresh wood fibres grown in the Nordics with world-class local production of quality tissues in the UK.
We are thrilled about how these plans can contribute to more sustainable local tissue production in the UK
“We are thrilled about how these plans can contribute to more sustainable local tissue production in the UK, offering alternatives to the currently imported tissue products. The project will significantly enhance Metsä Tissue’s presence in this country and underscores the importance of the UK market to our business in the years ahead”,
Lord Dominic Johnson, UK Minister for Investment, commented: “This investment is a huge vote of confidence in Goole, Yorkshire and Humberside. With hundreds of millions of pounds being committed, and thousands of jobs being created at both the new site and in the wider supply chain, this will have huge benefits for workers and businesses in Goole and many communities across East Riding, Yorkshire, Humberside and North Lincolnshire.
“We know that Yorkshire is one of the best places in the country to invest, and today’s announcement by Metsä further cements this. Last year alone, we saw 103 new projects in Yorkshire that were a result of inward investment, which collectively will create over 7,000 jobs”.
“I am delighted that Metsä Tissue has chosen Goole as the site of its flagship production facility in the UK. This decision will bring millions of pounds of investment to the area, leading to the creation of hundreds of jobs. It is also a testament to the government’s success in attracting major international investors to the UK.”
Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole, says: “I look forward to working with Metsä Tissue as plans for this investment move to their next stage and to ensuring that local people are first in line for the opportunities it creates”.
Today’s announcement marks an exciting moment for UK-Finland economic relations. IT builds on the long shared history of close cooperation and industrial partnerships between our countries.
“Today’s announcement marks an exciting moment for UK-Finland economic relations. IT builds on the long shared history of close cooperation and industrial partnerships between our countries. Metsä Tissue is a great flagbearer of the proud tradition of Finland’s forestry industry and this investment is a major step in helping it bring locally produced, sustainable tissue products to the UK and Ireland”, says His Excellency, Jukka Siukosaari, Ambassador of Finland to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. “This is a huge investment for Goole and the East Riding, as well as the wider Humber region. It will provide a real boost for the local economy, creating hundreds of jobs, and potentially thousands more along the supply chain.
His thoughts are echoed by Councillor Anne Handley, Leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, who tells FM Magazine: “Metsä Tissue’s commitment to clean, green technology fits perfectly with our key priority of valuing the environment, and their decision to come here is a step in the right direction towards a more sustainable future for the UK”.
Metsä Tissue, which currently imports 45 per cent of the products it sells in the UK and Ireland, aims to replace around half that volume by transitioning to near sourcing—with future production in Britain to be supported by fresh fibre pulp, its main raw material, sourced from sustainably-managed forests in the Nordics.
Reducing the company’s reliance on imports to the UK will have a positive impact on productivity and carbon emissions.
The comany says the Goole facility will use “cutting-edge”, sustainable production technologies to deliver an efficient and modern facility with world-class environmental credentials.
Metsä Tissue’s has committed to manufactured all products from fully fossil-fuel-free raw materials by 2030 as part of a broader ambition by its parent company, Metsä Group, to support a ‘net zero society’. The company is additionally aiming for all the paper mills it operates, including the new Goole facility, to run without fossil fuels.
Subject to planning and environmental permits and a final investment decision, the new site will occupy an area of around 200 acres, and will have the capacity to produce 240,000 metric tonnes of tissue paper annually.
The planned facility is the first major investment in the proposed Goole tax site within the Humber Freeport set up to to accelerate inward investment in the region.
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