The UK's only manufacturing plant for Lucozade and Ribena is getting a £25 million upgrade, with plans to extend warehousing at the Forest of Dean site approved this July 2026.
Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ltd has secured planning permission from Forest of Dean District Council for a ten-bay warehouse extension at its Royal Forest Factory in Coleford, to facilitate the installation of a new high-speed line which will boost capacity to 55,000 bottles per hour.
Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I first announced the £25 million investment in February 2026, marking the 80 years since the Coleford factory was first built.
The approved plans are for a single-pitched roof, steel portal frame extension totalling 3,078 sqm, featuring light grey vertical metal cladding to the elevations and roof. Associated works include the removal of trees and connection to the existing infrastructure.
The Royal Forest Factory extends eleven hectares and employs around 350 people, making up half of the company's total number of UK employees, and more than half the total number employed in manufacturing and production in Coleford.
Across its eight bottling lines, the factory is capable of producing 1 billion bottles annually, and remains the company's only factory in the UK.
Consultants working on the scheme described Suntory as 'one of the largest single employers' in the Forest of Dean.
'The owners continue to invest heavily in the site with the latest round of capital spend on infrastructure likely to exceed £10 million,' they said.
'The proposal for a new warehouse allows the business to introduce a new production line, replacing two older lines in need of improvement.
'This will improve the efficiency of the factory and unlock future sustainability projects.'
Coleford district councillor Clive Elsmore spoke in favour of the application at the planning committee meeting on Tuesday 14 July 2026, while Coleford Town Council also backed the plans.
Councillors also voted unanimously to follow planning officers' recommendation to approve the scheme.
