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Baileys gains approval for £26m expansion
Diageo has received planning permission for a £26 million (US$33m) extension of its Baileys production site in Northern Ireland.
Diageo will begin work on the expansion of the Baileys global supply facility in Mallusk, County Antrim, in early 2024.
Planning approval from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council will enable Diageo to improve the site’s logistics and warehousing.
The Mallusk factory focuses on the original Baileys expression and includes the production, bottling, labelling and storage of the product before distribution to 150 countries worldwide.
The facility produces more than 60m bottles of Baileys every year.
Lesley Allen, operations manager at Baileys, said: “We are delighted with the council’s decision to approve our plans to extend our site at Mallusk.
“The extension will support the storage, delivery and distribution of raw materials and finished goods and we are looking forward to the opportunities it will create for us.”
The Mallusk facility is one of two global production sites for Baileys, with the second located in Nangor Road in Dublin, which focuses on production and bottling.
Diageo also operates two other sites in Northern Ireland – a beer canning and packaging factory in east Belfast and the corporate headquarters in Belfast city centre.
The company employs more than 320 staff at the three Northern Ireland sites and supports hundreds of indirect jobs across the local supply chains, according to the planning application.
The expansion will create 100 construction jobs and 30-35 post-construction positions.
Allen added: “Baileys makes a considerable contribution to the local economy in Northern Ireland, and over 97% of our output is shipped around the world.
“We are confident that the planned extension will support Diageo’s wider growth strategy, building on the £40m [US$51m] investment we made in opening the site in 2003 and the ongoing investments to further develop the facility and the Baileys brand.”
In its planning application, Diageo indicated that the Mallusk site would be net zero by 2030. The facility is already fully powered by renewable electricity and the proposed expansion will install solar panels on the roof.
In October last year, Baileys became the largest spirit brand to achieve B Corp certification.
Baileys is the world’s biggest-selling liqueur brand, selling 8.8m nine-litre cases in 2022, according to The Brand Champions 2023 report.