Lion invests $15m at Christchurch Brewery site

Lion has announced plans to build a new $15 million warehouse and distribution centre in Christchurch, after its Canterbury Brewery operation suffered significant damage in the Christchurch earthquake.

The company also said it would invest several million dollars in its Auckland and Dunedin plants, as production was moved from Christchurch.

22 roles will be axed as a result of the changes, though the company said it had 28 vacancies across its wider operations in New Zealand.

Lion's corporate affairs director Neil Hinton said the company would offer redeployment opportunities where possible.

He said no decision has been made about whether another brewery will be built on the St Asaph Street site.

The new warehouse and distribution centre will sit on 10 hectares of land behind the Canterbury Brewery, with a completion date set down for next year.

"This buys us time to make decision about how we will salvage what we have got and what we do in the future. We are not discounting that we would rebuild on there, but it's a decision that we now recognise is going to take a long time - it could be a couple of years."

The central Christchurch warehouse and distribution centre will enable a more efficient and streamlined distribution service for Lion's South Island customers, Hinton said.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said the announcement was a vote of confidence in the region as a business hub.

- NZ HERALD ONLINE