Mars is to spend £161 million modernising its 75-year-old pet food factory in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, the company announced today, Tuesday 10 November 2026. The investment will bring new production lines, new skilled jobs and more apprenticeships to the site, which makes pet food brands including Pedigree and Whiskas.

The modernisation programme will run until 2031 and will introduce advanced manufacturing technology and new high-speed production lines designed to produce fully recyclable pet food pouches. Mars said the upgrades would also help to cut production waste and improve the recycling of packaging at the site.

More than 30 new roles and a bigger apprentice programme

The investment will create more than 30 technical and engineering roles in its first year, according to Mars. The site’s apprentice programme will also grow, from 26 to 33 permanent positions by next year, giving more young people in Leicestershire a route into manufacturing careers.

The Melton Mowbray factory currently employs about 200 people and has the capacity to produce more than one million pouches of pet food a day. The site was built in 1951 and is where Whiskas cat food and Pedigree dog food were first made. It marks its 75th year of operation in 2026.

Nick Foster, general manager for Mars Pet Nutrition in northern Europe, said Britain was a “cornerstone of our global pet care business”, describing the investment as a sign of the company’s confidence in British manufacturing and the UK market.

Part of £661m of UK investment since 2021

The Melton Mowbray commitment takes Mars’s total capital investment in the UK since 2021 to £661 million. Earlier this year the company announced £190 million for its chocolate factory in Slough, Berkshire, which first opened in 1932.

Mars said the Melton Mowbray investment formed part of its plans to invest €1 billion in its European operations by the end of 2026. Mars is a privately owned American company and employs more than 10,000 people in Britain, its second-biggest market.

The announcement is a boost for UK manufacturing at a time when employers have been cautious about hiring and investment. For Melton Mowbray, a market town in Leicestershire, the programme secures the future of one of its best-known employers for the rest of the decade and adds skilled roles and apprenticeships for local people. Sources: The Times and BM Magazine.