AOC Resins in Haverhill secures site’s future and avoids job losses after plans for redevelopment approved
A Haverhill manufacturer has secured its future and avoided the risk of job losses after being given planning permission to build a new warehouse and storage building.
The plans put forward by AOC Resins Ltd (AOC), a Piperell Way based global supplier of resin and solutions for the production of composites, were approved by West Suffolk Council on February 7.
A planning statement submitted by the company explained that some buildings, which were no longer fit for purpose, had already been demolished as part of a wider redevelopment.
The proposal approved by the council is for a new 840sq m warehouse and a 810sq m covered storage area.
The business case put forward by AOC Resins Ltd, which has 28 employees at the facility, said: “The proposed multi-million-pound investment is necessary to secure the future of AOC’s manufacturing at their Haverhill site, as it further strengthens the site’s overall position as the company’s primary UK manufacturing site.
“If the project were not to go ahead due to planning restrictions this would potentially place the long term prospects for the continued manufacture at Haverhill in very real doubt, which in turn would place the overall site’s viability in question and risk the loss of countless jobs both at the site and across the smaller companies that depend on the Haverhill site.
“Although the project will not result directly in the creation of more jobs at AOC’s Haverhill site, the project will result in a significant investment in the local community as AOC will be looking to undertake the works necessary by utilising its relationships with local engineering and construction companies.”
The project also includes the creation of a new tank farm, workshop and control room, all in a phased manner over the next three years.
A resin plant was first opened at the site in 1970 by Cargill and Blagden.
Following a number of ownership changes it was purchased in 2022 by AOC Resins Ltd.
