A proud day for Wrigley as Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh visit Plymouth factory

Estover, Plymouth (March 11, 2010) - Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh today visited the Wrigley Company’s site in Estover, Plymouth.  Meeting associates, the visit included a tour of the company’s quality laboratory, manufacturing line and ended with an unveiling of a plaque celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary at the site.

The Factory was officially opened by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in 1972 and today’s visit was organised to celebrate this important milestone.  Wrigley has been selling chewing gum in the UK since 1911 and opened its first factory in Wembley in 1926 before moving to Plymouth.

The Wrigley site houses both manufacturing and commercial operations such as sales, marketing and finance.  Over 1 million packets of chewing and bubble gum are produced at the Plymouth factory every day, most of which is consumed in the UK. Nearly 25% of chewing gum produced at the Plymouth factory site is exported, mainly to other European markets.  The site sits in 45 acres and has an open boundary with Dartmoor National Park, so it is not uncommon to see deer walking around the grounds.

Speaking following the visit, Gordon Cook, a factory associate who has worked at the site for 20 years said:

“Today has been a real honour for all us who work at Wrigley. It was a real shock to hear that we were expecting a visit from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. We were all a bit nervous but they were both very natural and asked lots of questions about the factory and chewing gum.  I’m not sure they are big chewers, but their grandchildren might be!”

Janet Keeble, a receptionist at the site who has worked at Wrigley for 22 years added:

“It’s been a wonderful day for everyone and we’re all very proud that Her Majesty and His Royal Highness chose to visit us on their tour of Devon. The Queen appeared really interested in what we do here and had lots of questions.  I didn’t insist they wore their name badges, as I normally do, because I knew everyone would know who they were.”

Ian Burton, Managing Director of the Wrigley Company UK said:

“Today’s Royal visit has been a fantastic way of celebrating our 40th anniversary in Plymouth, which continues to be an important location for us given the significance of the UK marketplace to our company.  Next year will be our 100th anniversary of selling chewing gum in the UK and we look forward to further celebrations then.”

 For further information please contact The Wrigley Company UK press office on 020 7618 9109 or at Wrigley@luther.co.uk.