Marita Chapman

British Sugar

British Sugar is the leading supplier to the British and Irish food and beverage markets. We operate at four advanced manufacturing plants across East Anglia and the East Midlands. We currently employ around 1,400 permanent and contract staff and indirectly support around 9,500 UK jobs in the wider economy. We employ technicians, apprentices, graduates and experienced professionals for roles across the business and throughout the supply chain including engineers, accountants and project managers. Over the past 10 years, we have recruited and trained over 100 graduates and 90 apprentices. Over 3,000 growers supply our factories with around 8 million tonnes of sugar beet each year, which we process into up to 1.4 million tonnes of sugar. Sugar production is at the heart of our operations but using our highly integrated approach to manufacturing, we aim to transform all of our raw materials into sustainable products. We produce 500,000 tonnes of animal feed from sugar beet pulp. We recycle stones for building, lime for soil conditioning and soil for landscaping. Using our Combined Heat & Power plants, we export enough electricity to power 120,000 homes. We were also the first company to manufacture Bioethanol in the UK. Over the past five years, we have invested over £250m in our advanced manufacturing plants at Bury St Edmunds, Cantley, Newark and Wissington to make them as efficient and productive as possible.