New Food Unit bringing jobs to Cross Hands

An event has been held to mark the start of work on a major new food unit on Cross Hands Food Park.

The developer is JBCH Ltd of Cross Hands and once completed will be occupied by Celtica Foods who will operate the unit as a meat processing facility potentially accommodating 106 jobs and bringing significant benefits for the local agricultural sector.

The more than 100 jobs include 70 new jobs as well as some transfers and the project is also giving a boost to the construction industry creating a further 80 jobs during the construction phase of the project.

The 36,900 square foot high specification unit at the Cross Hands Food Park is being funded thanks to a substantial grant of £1.9m, funded from the South West Wales Property Development Fund.

The total cost of the development is £4.4m and would not have been viable without the help of the support from the Property Development Fund. A funding loan is also being provided by Finance Wales.

Carmarthenshire County Council Leader Cllr Kevin Madge said at the event: “I’m delighted to be here today at the highly successful Cross Hands Food Park. I remember when we planted the seeds and put in the infrastructure. It really puts us on the map.

“This is an example of how we create jobs. I know how difficult it has been for you in the private sector. The Property Development Fund provides financial support to the private sector and it is something making a huge difference over the South Wales region.

“I thank Celtica Foods for your investment and all the jobs you are creating here.”

The South West Wales Property Development Fund has been part-funded by the EU’s Convergence European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

It is a regional scheme covering South West Wales with Carmarthenshire County Council’s Economic Development Division acting as the lead body for the programme in partnership with Pembrokeshire, Neath Port Talbot and the City and County of Swansea.

The Property Development Fund, which has been available since 2009 is delivering a total of £28 million of investment throughout the region by creating high quality employment space in partnership with the private sector.

The programme targets industrial and office developments on key strategic employment sites and priority has been given to applications providing tangible benefits to the local economy in respect of jobs and premises created and the number of small and medium enterprises accommodated.

The programme helps fund the gap between the cost and end value of developing industrial and office accommodation throughout South West Wales. Low end-values for these types of properties have discouraged developers from building in the area in recent years and the Property Development Fund has helped unlock significant investment throughout the region.