Coca-Cola says the closures are necessary to provide greater efficiencies across its operations in Great Britain.
The Milton Keynes site has been operational since 1976 and employs 220 people. It produces 60 million cases per year across nine manufacturing lines. Brands produced at the site include Coca-Cola, Capri-Sun, Fanta and Monster Energy; across cans, pouches (Capri-Sun) and bag-in-box (syrup for commercial customers).
The proposed closures – planned for 2019 - are expected to result in the loss of 288 roles: although Coca-Cola says that 121 roles would be created across other sites as work is redistributed.
A spokesperson from Coca-Cola European Partners said: “We are proud of our long standing links with both towns and have not made these proposals lightly. However, we believe the proposed changes are necessary as they would provide significant productivity improvements and create greater efficiency across our manufacturing and distribution operations in Great Britain.
“We are proposing to transfer production and warehousing to other GB sites. We expect to create 121 additional roles across our manufacturing and distribution networks, providing potential redeployment opportunities for impacted colleagues.”