Compass Group UK & Ireland has announced a major investment in the future of British food production with the launch of its new Cuisine Centre in Derbyshire. Opening in late 2026, the state‑of‑the‑art facility will produce over 70 million nutritious meals a year across the public and private sector.

Spanning ten thousand square metres, the new Cuisine Centre will be located at SmartParc SEGRO Derby, a £300m investment to create an innovative 155‑acre regenerated brownfield food manufacturing and distribution site. The facility will provide increased capacity, modern production capabilities and enhanced sustainability credentials. An innovative on‑site energy centre will recycle waste heat to reduce energy consumption while the first tranche of solar generation will supply c.20% of the facility’s power.

The Cuisine Centre will produce five specialist ranges, each freshly made on site and designed to meet specific needs: Moreish, Medley, Nurture, Steamplicity, and Esteem. Each meal showcases ingredients sourced from trusted suppliers, adhering to stringent standards for food safety, quality, and responsible sourcing. Alongside its established supplier network, Cuisine Centre aims to explore opportunities to increase regional sourcing as part of the facility’s opening, promoting community engagement and championing British Food.

The ranges include over 200 dishes across mains, sides and desserts, all created in partnership between a team of chefs and dietitians to ensure great taste, quality and nutritional value. Each range is tailored to the unique needs of each audience, helping kitchens to create exciting menus for varied audiences as well as supporting robust allergen control measures. Centralised production and flexible meal formats such as multiportion or plated, also improve operational efficiency, reducing preparation time, energy usage and food waste for catering teams.

This investment represents a major milestone in Compass’ commitment to transforming large-scale food production, delivering better meals for both people and the planet at a national scale. As part of this focus, the Cuisine Centre will be working with the local community to deliver skills, training and development – a key part of its Social Promise that seeks to support one million people by 2030, through jobs, training, community engagement and development.

Charles Brown, Interim CEO, Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “The new Cuisine Centre is a significant step forward for our business, allowing us to scale up our existing operations through a larger, more advanced facility. The scale and capability of the new facility brings more production in-house, strengthening supply continuity, delivering greater supply chain resilience, and enhancing our ability to deliver high‑quality, nutritious meals produced responsibly and at scale.

“We are a large and diverse business that has the dexterity to meet specific market demands within the sectors we operate. This facility meets a specific need case, for delivering consistent, quality, nutritious meals in a safe and controlled environment, reducing allergen risks, as well as giving time back to kitchen teams.”

The Cuisine Centre is underpinned by a commitment to responsible and ethical sourcing and will play a key role in supporting Compass Group UK & Ireland’s ambition to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040. It will also help to deliver SmartParc SEGRO Derby’s wider sustainability goals, alongside major improvements in water conservation, waste reduction, and transport and packaging efficiency.

Jackie Wild, SmartParc SEGRO Derby, said: “Compass Group’s new Cuisine Centre is exactly the kind of investment SmartParc SEGRO Derby was designed to support. The development brings advanced food production, shared infrastructure and lower-carbon operational benefits together on a regenerated brownfield site, giving businesses the space and flexibility to modernise how they produce food. We look forward to seeing the facility become an important part of Compass Group’s future production network and of Derby’s growing food manufacturing sector.”