News that a ready meals factory in Rogerstone is to benefit from part of a £55m investment by its owners, 2 Sisters Food Group, has been hailed as a vote of confidence in Newport by council leader Cllr Bob Bright.

Cllr Bright, leader of Newport City Council, said of the news: “This is a vote of confidence in its Newport business, the workforce and in the city.”

The company, which is one of the UK’s largest food producers, is investing the £55m in its Meal Solutions Division to support further growth, create state of the art manufacturing facilities and secure jobs.

The majority of the investment, £38m, will be used to completely rebuild Pennine Foods, in Sheffield, with the remaining £17m being allocated to refurbish and expand capacity at both Rogerstone and Carlisle.

A spokesman from 2 Sisters said it could not put an exact figure on how much would be invested at the Rogerstone plant or how many jobs would be created in the town.

Cllr Bright said: “I welcome the planned investment by the 2 Sisters Food Group in its Rogerstone plant and the creation of new jobs. I look forward to hearing more details about their plans for Rogerstone."

The 2 sisters spokesman said: "Pennine is a purpose-built site, originally established in 1986, which has now reached full capacity. To avoid disruption for customers, work at Pennine will be phased with some capacity transferring to both Rogerstone and Carlisle from April 2016.

"This will see an increase in jobs at the Rogerstone plant."

The spokesman for 2 Sisters said she was unable to say how many jobs would be created but they did confirm that the increase in capacity at the Rogerstone plant from April next year would be permanent.

The refurbishment programme will help safeguard up to over 800 jobs at Pennine.

2 Sisters’ Meal Solutions produces a range of products including ready meals, soups and sauces. The division is wholly focused on own-label products, and predominantly produces ready meals and soups and sauces for Marks & Spencer out of four factories: Pennine Foods in Sheffield, Rogerstone, Carlisle and Grimsby.