Unilever has announced an £80m investment in fragrance production in the UK.
The consumer goods giant intends to build a new state-of the art fragrance facility in Port Sunlight, Merseyside.
The site will include a fragrance research and innovation lab, a compounding facility for the development and blending of new fragrances, along with product testing suites.
The owner of Dove and Paula’s Choice said the new facility will also incorporate robotics focused on performing tasks such as blending fragrance oils and real time data capture, as well as use of AI to drive fragrance development.
Port Sunlight is already home to one of the company’s three R&D hubs, and is where the Lever brothers first set up a soap making factory that would later become part of Unilever.
The new site, which is subject to planning permission but expected to be operational from 2027, will add fragrance capabilities to its consumer insights and product development processes.
Innovations from the new facility will feed into Unilever's home care, personal care, and beauty and wellbeing brands, including Persil, Dove, Rexona (Sure in the UK) and TRESemmé.
“We are delighted to announce this significant investment to build a world-class fragrance house within Unilever,” said Richard Slater, Chief R&D Officer at Unilever.
“The investment includes a new state-of-the-art facility in Port Sunlight which further expands our leading-edge R&D capabilities in the UK and drives our ambitious plans to build expertise, partnerships and innovation at scale.
“Our new fragrance facility and expert perfumers will enable us to bring fragrance insight and innovation to our brands at speed and, working with our partners, to reinvent how fragrances are created for consumer products, leveraging cutting-edge science along with AI and robotics.”
Unilever will continue to partner with external fragrance houses DSM-Firmenich and Givaudan.
The cash injection is part of a wider £300m investment across the Unilever business in the UK over the next two years, including R&D, offices and factories.
It is a vote of confidence in the UK after the FTSE-100 company last year decided to spin-off its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, with a new primary listing in Amsterdam.
Baroness Poppy Gustafsson, CBE, UK Minister for Investment, said: “The UK is a top investment destination and Unilever’s major plan is the latest vote of confidence in our economy, which will boost the UK’s thriving R&D sector, supporting our Plan for Change.
“With digital and technologies being identified as a key growth sector in our upcoming Industrial Strategy, we're not only helping to attract and secure investment, but delivering long-term growth that supports skilled jobs and raises living standards across the UK.”