Bring in the Branston
Saucy MPs are being asked to ditch HP in favour of the flavour of another brown sauce made in Bury St Edmunds.
David Ruffley, MP for Bury, has called on the Houses of Parliament to ditch its age-old association with HP and replace it with Branston brown sauce, made in Mildenhall Road, Bury.
The move follows an announcement by HP's US owners Heinz, to move production of the HP – House of Parliament sauce – from Birmingham to Holland, with the loss of 125 UK jobs.
"A lot of us are tired of seeing British jobs lost when companies move their production abroad and so I have put the above amendment to the House of Commons calling on them to replace HP with Branston," said Mr Ruffley.
The MP sampled some Branston sauce as he sampled a bacon sandwich at the factory on Friday.
"I honestly think having tasted the sauce, it knocks HP for six and I am proud that it is being made here in Bury. Go out and try it – you won't be disappointed," he said.
Workers at Branston – owned by Premier Foods – churn out 120,000 bottles of the sauce a day.
The company already exports to 70 countries and owners are now considering investing a further 2 million on the site to boost capacity.
Oliver Flint, head of manufacturing for Premier's eastern sites, said: "We launched the product in January and it is doing great.
"Sales have gone through the roof this past fortnight after Tesco doubled its orders of Branston brown sauce and ketchup. And the fact that Heinz decided to give itself bad publicity is just a bonus."
Now, Branston is hoping to cash in on HP's move and it has signalled that it may even be willing to take on the Houses of Parliament insignia currently displayed on HP bottles.
Sue Knight, of Branston Brown Sauce, said: "Branston would be delighted to supply the House with a proper British brown sauce. We know how close British-produced Branston is to the hearts of the nation.
"If HP is asked to remove the Houses of Parliament from its label, we would certainly be willing to consider having this proud symbol of democracy on our Branston brown sauce bottle."
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -7 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North east
