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The owner of McVitie’s and its famous Jaffa Cake and Jacob’s Cream Crackers brands is investing tens of millions of pounds into its North West operations.

Snacking group Pladis is investing £68m in its º£½ÇÊÓƵ operations to help “supercharge” the growth of its brands – and most of that money will be spent in the North West to increase capacity, capability and productivity.

At the company’s Jaffa Cake factory In Stockport, Pladis is investing £21m in a new chocolate moulding line featuring “state-of-the-art” robotic technology.

Meanwhile at Aintree in Liverpool, where workers bake Jacob’s Cream Crackers, Pladis is launching a £33m overhaul including installing new ovens, which the group says is “ensuring the facility is fit for the future”.

The Pladis base in Carlisle has been operating since 1831 and the company calls it “the world’s oldest biscuit factory”. Pladis is investing £2m in the savoury assortments department, a move that will lead to the recruitment of 48 new staff at the plant which now employs around 800 people.

Pladis, which also owns chocolate brand Godiva, called the move a “vote of confidence” in the North West’s manufacturing sector. A recent report for the company showed its manufacturing operations generated some £240m for the region’s economy each year.

Another £12m has been allocated to improve infrastructure at all of its º£½ÇÊÓƵ sites including in Halifax, Harlesden in North London and Leicester as well as those in the North West.

Pladis hopes the investments will be completed by the end of next year. It says the move will also help it to meet its green targets, with the investments expected to help the group cut 876 tonnes of carbon emissions each year – the equivalent of removing some 440 cars from the road.