WORKERS at Albright & Wilson's Widnes site have been given a multi-million pound vote of confidence by the company with the unveiling of new production facilities on Friday.

And a top executive heaped praise on staff for a dramatic turnaround in prospects for a site which once looked doomed.

Works manager David Elliot described the new plant, producing advanced phosphate blends for the food industry, as a "huge vote of confidence" in the Widnes operation.

Albright's vice-president and European phosphates manager David Fielding said of the £7.4 million development: "This is a world-class plant, a very important development for us."

And he praised a turnaround in Widnes' fortunes: "We have fundamentally changed the way we think about the Widnes site.

"If you go back three or four years, we used to worry about the future of the Widnes site. It was risking losing money, there were concerns about workforce productivity and industrial relations were strained.

"But we changed the way we operated and managed this site, all credit to all the staff here."

He proclaimed that the way the site had turned itself around, with workers formulating new productivity targets, was a model for other plants

And Widnes could receive further investment: "As long as this site keeps producing the results, we will give them the money," said Mr Fielding.

Derek Twigg MP described the development as a "beacon" for those considering putting money into the borough.

"This sort of investment does give confidence to investors in the area," he said.

The new plant will make phosphates for the food and bakery industries, producing more highly-processed products and increasing competitiveness.

A £1 million packing line means the Widnes site can now package its own produce for the first time, helping safeguard the 160 jobs at Widnes.

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