Johnson Matthey : inaugurates new factory in Gliwice, Poland

The new, multi-million pound factory located in Gliwice, Poland, will be in excess of 25,000 m2, becoming the largest factory in the region. Ultimately, more than 300 jobs will be created due to its development.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the new factory was performed by Johnson Matthey's John Walker, Sector Chief Executive Clean Air. Together with John there were additional representatives from the company in attendance, including Alain Kirchmeyer, Managing Director, Adam Wojciechowski, Project Manager, Ben Miller, Site Manager and Marcin Szlenk, Chief Financial Officer. Also present were Artur Szymanski, chairman of GBPBP and Hubert Sojka, Project manager at Skanska, Johnson Matthey's main contractor.

JM considered a number of different locations in Poland for the site. Gliwice was selected because of our heritage in the city; our factory that is already located there currently employs approximately 700 people.

JM's Adam Wojciechowski, Project Manager in Poland, commented: 'We improve air quality by cleaning up emissions from cars. Last year, our science prevented some 20 million tonnes of pollutants from entering the atmosphere. We have selected Gliwice in order to take advantage of the highly skilled workforce based there. Gliwice also boasts a number of technical facilities including technical universities and research institutes. The autocatalysts produced here in Gliwice will be among the most advanced in the world.'

Recruitment for the 300-plus roles will begin soon and the factory will be commissioned in the middle of 2019.