More than 100 new jobs on the way in Leyland thanks to pizza maker Dr Oetker

Dr Oetker, known for its frozen pizzas, is looking to create 120 jobs at its base of operations in Marathon Place, Leyland, following a £30 million investment programme in the site to double its capacity to produce Chicago Town Deep Dish frozen pizza.

Georg Heerdegen Parsbo, Managing Director at Dr. Oetker UK said: "Dr Oetker is incredibly proud of our world-class facility and our new investment means we can continue to meet the demands for our great tasting pizzas both here in the UK and overseas.

"Dr Oetker philosophy of 'Quality is the Best Recipe' is at the heart of the business and our investment demonstrates a clear commitment to the UK business and the future of pizza manufacturing in our Leyland facility.

"We are very grateful to the South Ribble Council and support of the local community without whom our expansion would not have been possible."

The company acquired the Leyland site from Schwans UK in 2009, growing the number of jobs at the site from 360 to 440 people in that time.

The news of more jobs could see 560 people employed.

Mayor of South Ribble, Coun John Rainsbury, said: "It’s great to see businesses flourish and continue to invest in the region."

Member of the Board for Dr. Oetker, Dr. Christian von Twickel, said: "As a business we’re incredibly proud of our Leyland facility and our team.

"This new line and planned future investment demonstrates our continued commitment to the UK facility."