Corkers Crisps factory near Ely to be rebuilt after fire damage
A crisp factory destroyed by a fire in 2020 will be rebuilt after plans were approved by councillors.Ross Taylor, who owns the Corkers Crisps site in Pymoor, near Ely, said it was a "tragic day" when he lost the family business five years ago.Redeveloping the factory would reinstate 120 jobs, a meeting of East Cambridgeshire District Council's planning committee was told.Conservative councillor Lucius Vellacott said the restoration would create a "huge employment benefit" for the area.
The gourmet crisp business once turned over £10m a year at the family's potato farm.Mr Taylor founded it in 2010 and previously told the BBC it "went up in minutes" when the blaze broke out in May 2020.
Speaking at the planning meeting on Wednesday, Mr Taylor said: "We supported a lot of jobs over the years and brought a lot of young people into jobs and trained them."It has been a big journey for us as a family to lose our family farm. "We were so proud of this business, it was such a big loss to the area."One person raised concerns at the meeting about emissions from the factory when it reopens.However, Mr Taylor said only condensation was emitted previously and this would be managed by a steam turbine.He insisted the factory "basically won't emit any fumes at all".
Alan Sharp, a Conservative councillor, praised Mr Taylor for his resilience in light of what was a "very sad situation".He questioned why an increase of car parking spaces was included in the plan, but was told this was to allow for "a better designed layout".Councillors unanimously approved the plans when it was put to a vote.
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ITV News
2 hours ago
- ITV News
UK economy shrinks by more than expected in April in blow to Rachel Reeves
The UK economy contracted by 0.3% in April, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in a blow for Chancellor Rachel Reeves just a day after she unveiled her spending review. Figures from the ONS showed the economy went into reverse after growing by 0.2% in March and 0.5% in February. It was also worse than the 0.1% contraction expected by most economists. ONS Director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown said April saw the largest monthly fall on record in goods exports to the United States, with decreases across most types of goods, following the recent introduction of Donald Trump's trade tariffs. Reeves acknowledged that the latest GDP figures were 'clearly disappointing' but insisted her spending review would help deliver growth. The chancellor said: 'Our number one mission is delivering growth to put more money in people's pockets through our Plan for Change, and while these numbers are clearly disappointing, I'm determined to deliver on that mission. 'In yesterday's spending review we set out how we'll deliver jobs and growth – whether that's improving city region transport, a record investment in affordable homes or funding Sizewell C nuclear power station. We're investing in Britain's renewal to make working people better off'. ONS Director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown said that services and manufacturing both fell, but over the last three months, as a whole, GDP still grew, "with signs that some activity may have been brought forward from April to earlier in the year". 'Both legal and real estate firms fared badly in April, following a sharp increase in house sales in March when buyers rushed to complete purchases ahead of changes to Stamp Duty. Car manufacturing also performed poorly after growing in the first quarter of the year," she said. 'In contrast April was a strong month for construction, research and development and retail, with increases in these only partially offsetting falls elsewhere." The Conservative shadow chancellor said the fall in GDP in April was the result of 'Rachel Reeves' economic vandalism'. Sir Mel Stride said: 'Before the election Labour promised 'growth, growth, growth' but today's fall in GDP lays bare the disappointing consequences of Rachel Reeves' economic vandalism. 'Yesterday, the Chancellor should have taken corrective action to fix the problems she has caused. But instead her spending review has all but confirmed what many feared: more taxes are coming. 'Under Labour, we have seen taxes hiked, inflation almost double, unemployment rise, and growth fall. With more taxes coming, things will only get worse and hard-working people will pay the price.'
Western Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
Anglesey and Celtic freeports job hopes 'downgraded'
Plaid Cymru's Luke Fletcher criticised the pace of change at the Anglesey freeport as well as the Celtic freeport based around Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire. Mr Fletcher said people were promised transformative economic benefits, tens of thousands of jobs, billions in investment and a green revolution – "but years on, we are still waiting". "That's a fact, that's a reality," the shadow economy secretary warned. "Now, if freeports are meant to be a cornerstone of our economic strategy, then we need to actually understand exactly what we're getting and, right now, there's a huge lack of clarity and credibility." Freeports, originally a Conservative UK Government policy, offer tax breaks in an effort to boost business. Mr Fletcher said an initial promise of 20,000 jobs by 2030 was revised down to 17,000 on the Welsh Government's website, a decrease of 15 per cent. He added that the Celtic freeport was downgraded by 31per cent from a promise of 16,000 jobs to nearer 11,000 today. "All we've seen from the Celtic freeport so far are strategies, frameworks and meetings: no clear delivery, no major employment, no visible change," he said. Rebecca Evans, Wales' economy secretary, told Senedd members it remains early days with "an awful lot" of work going on behind the scenes and the freeports only open for business for a matter of months. Samuel Kurtz, the Conservatives' shadow secretary, welcomed the Celtic and Anglesey freeports but raised concerns about sites in England such as Teesside being further along. He also hailed "significant" progress at Wales' two investment zones – based on advanced manufacturing in Wrexham and Flintshire, and semiconductors in Newport and Cardiff. In her statement, Ms Evans said the Welsh Government has agreed full business cases for both freeports and the final agreement with UK ministers was close to completion.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Shops in Yorkshire found to be flouting single-use vape ban
Nearly two weeks on from a ban on the sale of single-use disposable vapes in the UK, many shops have been found still to be openly selling the illicit items. Almost half of the 21 stores which an undercover BBC reporter visited in cities in Yorkshire continued to sell the vapes as though there had been no law vapes, in their bright-coloured packaging and variety of fruity flavours, had been a "key driver behind the alarming rise in youth vaping", the previous government had said as it first set its sights on a Labour administration followed through, with the disposables officially banned from sale from 1 June this year - the aim being to protect children's health and reduce damage to the the introduction of the ban, anybody selling the illicit items risks a £200 fine, with repeat offenders facing the prospect of our undercover investigation has revealed that while some shop owners in Sheffield, Bradford, York and Leeds have been found to be following the new rules, others are turning a blind eye. In some shops we visited in Yorkshire, the colourful packaging of single-use vapes was still very much visible on the in those premises seemed happy to offer them to customers, and many were even selling them at a reduced shopkeeper I spoke to told me he knew he was breaking the law by selling the single-use disposable vapes, but he added that he wanted to sell his remaining stock at a discount."It's banned," he said, pointing at the stack of vapes in his shop window."I'm not allowed to sell them. I'm finishing. I don't have a lot, so I'm just trying to [get rid of them]."This was despite the ban on such vapes having been announced in October last gave stores more than seven months to get rid of the disposable vapes they still had in stockrooms and on the shelves before the ban came into force in June. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said before the ban that vape usage in England had grown by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, with about 9% of people now buying and using the disposable vapes helped get children hooked on nicotine and blighted high streets with waste, according to the government."It's why we've taken tough action and banned them," a Defra spokesperson that ban, another shopkeeper asked me if I wanted a "good deal" and offered to sell me an armful of the illicit vapes for £20, showing me a pick-and-mix of fruity flavours in the store's glass as part of our investigation in cities across Yorkshire to find out where such vapes were still being sold, we also visited traders regulated by North Yorkshire Council's Trading Standards shop workers approached by our undercover reporter there refused to sell the now-illegal Greg White, North Yorkshire Council's executive member for environment, said it was "disappointing" to see shops in other parts of Yorkshire were still prepared to break the law."There's been plenty of time to prepare and to try to get people to move from disposable vapes to reusable ones, and that would have been good for their business," he explained.A Defra spokesperson said: "Rogue traders will face serious penalties, up to and including criminal prosecution." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
