Economy
Originally the home to a local creamery, the facility was bought by the West Surrey Central Dairy Company in the late 1890s, which after developing a dried milk baby powder changed its name in 1908 to Cow & Gate. The creamery and dairy products factory had its own sidings from the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway station, providing access for milk trains.
In order to cope with the transport problems across its quickly expanding creamery, milk bottling and doorstep delivery network, Cow & Gate formed a dedicated logistics arm in 1920. Spun out in 2002 from successor company Unigate, Wincanton PLC is the UK's second largest logistics company. The company still has a dairy products base in the town, although its head office function moved to Chippenham, Wiltshire in 2005.
In 1999, Unigate sold its remaining dairies to Dairy Crest. The company still has a creamery and milk processing plant in the town, but has sold the cheese business to Adams Foods Ltd., producer of the Pilgrim's Choice brand of Cheddar cheese, the second best selling brand in the UK.
In order to fulfil the large number of food processing jobs, there has been an influx of foreign nationals in the last two years, especially Portuguese and Polish citizens.
Read more about this topic: Wincanton
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