400 jobs expected to be created in East Yorkshire as Finnish tissue paper firm announces plans for new factory

As well as the 400 direct jobs created within the mill, Metsä Tissue also says that the construction will create thousands of indirect jobs across the supply chain and local economy.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Metsä Tissue’s investment is good for Yorkshire, good for our economy and good for sustainability.

“This announcement is another example of the UK being the first choice for European investment and delivers on my commitment to grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country.”

Metsa tissue added that the new facility would “significantly reduce” the quantity of tissue products imported into the UK and Ireland, and that it will increase the UK’s self-sufficiency in tissue products by more than 30 per cent.

Up to 45 per cent of tissue products are currently imported into the UK and Ireland. Metsä Tissue aims to replace almost half of the imported products with British production, using fresh fibre pulp as the main raw material from “sustainably-managed” Nordic forests.

Occupying a site bordered by Rawcliffe Road in Goole and the M62 motorway, the mill will ultimately reach a production capacity of 240,000 ton of tissue paper, serving both the professional and consumer markets.

The firm has a target for all products to be manufactured from fully fossil fuel-free raw materials by 2030.

Esa Kaikkonen, CEO of Metsä Tissue, said: “Goole is the perfect location for this proposed investment. The Humber region provides a crucial gateway to the whole of the United Kingdom and the region’s ambitions to bring cutting-edge green technology and jobs to the UK matches our ambitions in clean, sustainable manufacturing.”

The firm also said the factory will use the “latest in sustainable production technology”.

Metsä Tissue is part of Metsä Group, a Finnish forest industry group that produces recyclable products from what it describes as renewable wood in forests in the Nordics. ​

The announcement of the planned investment follows an agreement between property development and investment firm Wykeland, which has long-term development rights to the site, and Metsä Tissue.

Wykeland managing director Dominic Gibbons said the firm had identified the potential of the site a few years ago and that it was now “delighted” to have secured a major international investor.

He added: “We have worked closely with Metsä Tissue since the end of last year to support their ambitions to establish a world-class facility on the site and bring hundreds of new jobs to the region.

“We will continue to support Metsä Tissue through the planning process, bringing to the project our substantial experience within the region of large-scale developments delivering significant economic impact.”

Metsä Tissue currently operates nine mills across Europe. The planned Goole mill would be the company’s biggest in terms of scale of investment and production.