Wincanton has secured a three-year contract extension with Britvic to operate the soft drinks giant’s NDC in Lutterworth, Leics.

The contract will see Wincanton operating a factory clearance shuttle operation between Britvic’s Rugby factory and the Leicestershire NDC, transporting 44 million cases per year.

Wincanton will also manage the automated NDC site, which has a throughput of 82 million cases per year, with plans to upgrade the facility’s infrastructure and technology to improve the efficiency of the operation, as well as boosting the site’s green credentials with the installation of an on-site energy consumption system.

Chris Kingshott, MD for manufacturing at Wincanton, said: “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Britvic. The soft drinks market has evolved considerably since we started working with Britvic in 1994, and we have continuously updated, evolved and improved our service to meet market demand.”

He added that a heat wave last July – which saw Wincanton’s team put a total of 17.6 million cases through the site, with a record high recorded on one day of 400 vehicles and 10,096 pallets – was an exceptional challenge, but “due to our flexibility and capability to quickly scale up our operations, we helped Britvic capitalise on one of its busiest periods in recent years”.

Wincanton  last month reported increased turnover and a more-than doubled pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 March.

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