Centenary campaign concludes at British Sugar’s Bury St Edmunds factory
12th February 2026
The Bury St Edmunds sugar factory closed its gates last week after successfully concluding its 100th sugar beet campaign.
Since September 2025, the site has processed a total of two million tonnes of locally grown sugar beet, producing approximately 300,000 tonnes of sugar.
Andy Simms, site general manager, said: “Our 100th campaign has been extremely special for not only our teams on site but also those who grow, harvest or deliver sugar beet to us. It’s part of an incredible local industry and is hugely important to us all.
“To help celebrate the site’s centenary, we opened our doors to the general public and hosted site tours twice a week. As of this week, we have welcomed over 400 people through the gates to showcase what we do, and the response has genuinely been incredible.
“I have been blown away by the engagement, excitement and appreciation for not only what our team does day in and day out but also the scale of operation, our zero-waste mentality and our drive for continuous improvement. I couldn’t have been prouder to lead the team in this momentous year.”
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‘People are at the heart of what we do’
Mr Simms added that operationally the Bury St Edmunds site has had one of its best performances in recent years.
“Our decarbonisation project, which was commissioned for the start of the campaign, has reduced our site carbon emissions by 20,000 tonnes per annum. Our new front-of-house facility has proven to be a valuable asset for not only the site team but the wider business too,” he continued.
Looking ahead, with the factory gates closing to sugar beet deliveries, the factory will switch to maintenance mode, with all equipment being dismantled, cleaned, checked and rebuilt in time for the gates to open again to deliveries in the autumn.
Mr Simms has also highlighted that a huge factor in the factory’s success over the last 100 years has been its people. “People are at the heart of what we do. We all care about the site, we love the work we do, and we’re proud to work here.
“We have colleagues on site who’ve been here for four decades, and we’ve got new apprentices fresh out of full-time education. This dynamic means there is constant learning, knowledge sharing and camaraderie,” he concluded.
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