A NEW food packaging factory on York’s Nestlé site will eventually provide work for up to 200 people during peak periods.

IPS First’s new plant, which was officially opened by York MP Hugh Bayley, has already created about 100 jobs.

But IPS group chairman Paul Cheney said more agency staff would be taken on during periods, such as the run-up to Christmas and Easter and new product launches, to take total employment levels to about 200.

He praised The Press for helping the firm recruit its staff, revealing that following editorial coverage and advertising in the paper, IPS’s website received more than 30,000 hits and about 2,500 applications for jobs were received. “We have got some cracking staff now,” he said.

Amongst those finding work are ex-employees from the former Terry’s chocolate factory, Malton Bacon Factory and the Nestle factory itself. Pauline Lamb, 44, from the Hull Road area, said she had worked for an agency at Nestlé before, and had gone to IPS to secure a permanent job.

Mr Bayley revealed how he had helped IPS press ahead with its £1 million-plus investment in the site by writing to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to press for a loan guarantee under the Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme.

“This enabled IPS to receive the finance required to invest in the new factory,” he said.

The plant, situated in a redundant stores building, is now packing both confectionery products from the York factory, such as Kit Kats, Aeros and Milky Bars, and other Nestlé goods brought to the site from all over the country, such as Nescafé.

In the past, Nestlé’s goods were sent to several co-packers in locations across the UK. With the move to York, the new venture brings co-packing to the doorstep of one of Nestlé’s largest distribution centres and will significantly reduce the need to transport stock around the country.

The move will cut the need for about 4,000 lorry journeys per year, equivalent to transporting goods around 300,000 lorry miles.

Mr Cheney said that when fully up and running, the new factory would put an extra £2 million into the local economy.

Mr Bayley said Nestle continued to make a valuable contribution to York’s economy.

“I’m pleased that, in partnership with IPS, the company is bringing more new jobs to the city.”