Posted:  Friday 28 August 2009

Manchester Plant Celebrates its 75th Anniversary

Manchester Plant, the home of Pampers in the UK recently celebrated its 75th Anniversary.  The plant is the 3rd oldest P&G built plant in the world it is also one of the highest performers.

Manchester Plant has gone through remarkable changes over the past 30 years. In the 1980's it saw production transfers of established products such as bar soaps like Camay to France.  In the 1990's it saw many products come and go including Lenor, Flash, Pantene, Baby Wipes and Always.  Most recently in 2007 it saw the sale of the Family Care Bounty and Charmin business to SCA.

The one constant business Manchester has had since 1991 is Pampers.

To commemorate 75 years of production at Manchester Plant two events were held on-site recently:

Family Event Celebration- 27th June:  This was an opportunity for current employees and retirees to show their families where they work.  Around 850 people, including 180 Manchester Associates and partners, attended when the event was held at the plant between 10am and 4pm, fortunately with the rain holding off!

The event included a Fun Fair of activities for all ages to enjoy including face painting, wall climbing and many inflatable games.

Food and drinks were available from the catering stands with a favourite seeming to be the fresh hog roast.  Although the plant had been closed for production for this event, a team of volunteers had one of the production lines fully operational showing start to finish the making of Pampers.  A great day was had by all with nearly £2,000 raised to benefit local charities.

Formal VIP Event - 10th July:  As a continuation of our 75th celebrations a formal celebration event was held with Manchester Baby Care managers both past and present.  The 80 guests attending the event, including 14 Manchester Associates from the region's Volunteer Committee, assembled in a marquee erected near the Central Building in the plant to host the event.



We had the pleasure of previous Plant Managers Ron Harryman (1977), Peter Williams (1985), Trevor Barber (1995) and Kurt Bartkowiak (1998) in attendance.

The event also hosted the Mayor of the Borough of Trafford and his wife, plus several councillors helping to build further the relationship that the plant has developed with them and to ensure that they are aware of the huge role that P&G Manchester plays in the local community.

"The current high performance supplying the UK market is testimony to the resilience, flexibility and talent of the Manchester people.  This combination of knowledge, skill and attitude will remain as important as ever in the coming years we face the challenges of the ever increasing pace of change of the world we live in."
- Chris Horner, Manchester Plant Manager

"The anniversary was managed excellently.  My compliments to you and your people, and especially to Jane.  As ever, it's an eye-opening experience to visit such a pristine plant. It was so clean and well organised.  An object lesson for many manufacturing operations I'm sure.  Also, it was a delight to be amongst positive, enthusiastic, P&G people again.  They were all a credit to you and the Company.  My best wishes for the continued success of the plant - and to the restoration of Pampers share to the 65% level it deserves!
- John Bennett

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