Pictured above: An artist's impression of the new Jersey Dairy that has been fitted out by Staffordshire company Birchall

Leading building services provider Birchall has milked its first order in the Channel Islands by fitting out Europe's most modern dairy.

The company, with offices in Newcastle-under-Lyme, deigned and installed all the mechanical and electrical services for the purpose-built facility for Jersey Dairy following a £1.7-million contract with TSL Projects.

The new state-of-the-art dairy, one of the most highly efficient and environmentally friendly production facilities of its type, will boost exports of top-tasting full cream to low-fat milks and dairy products from pure-bred Jersey cows.

The new 3,000-sq m green field-based plant at Trinity includes manufacturing and processing rooms, packing stores for both liquid milk products and yoghurt, cream and butter filling, and a freezer, laboratory and engineering workshop. 

Anthony Wrottesley, Project Manager with TSL Projects, which was also carrying out its first major project on Jersey, said his company had worked closely with Jersey Dairy to understand its requirements and designed a highly efficient facility able to cope with the demands of both the island and future exports.

He added: "We wanted a project of this scale to benefit the island as much as possible so we worked with Jersey Enterprise to ensure that there was sufficient involvement from local sub-contractors, while also relying on Birchall to provide the required level of expertise from the mainland in the building of a new dairy." 

Eamon Fenlon, Managing Director of Jersey Dairy, which has moved from Five Oaks to the new site this summer, said: "The move is an important step to enhancing the future of the Island's dairy industry and we are thrilled with our new site and believe it will be a focal point for regeneration.

"The new plant has the much needed purpose-built facilities we require to help us preserve and expand the incredibly special standards and reputation which Jersey Dairy already has and help us look to the future of the industry in the Island."

John Graham, Birchall Design Director, said: "We are delighted to have completed our first major project in Jersey, which included successfully overcoming the logistical challenges of delivering large plant to the site from mainland UK." 

The deal is the fourth major dairy project in the past two years for Birchall, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Birchall recently fitted out new cheese packing plants in Leek and Nuneaton for Kerrygold and Dairy Crest respectively, and a new yoghurt plant in Telford for Nom.