Our Real Estate, Tax and Planning teams have advised Metsä Tissue, part of Metsä Group in its choice to develop a new, modern tissue factory in Goole, Yorkshire.

The investment of hundreds of millions of pounds would be the largest tissue paper factory in Great Britain. When operating at full capacity, the factory will employ more than 400 people directly and thousands more in the supply chain.

Currently, up to 45 percent of the tissue products in Great Britain and Ireland are imported goods. Metsä Tissue's goal is to replace almost half of imports with local production and to use its main raw material first - fiber pulp, which comes from responsibly managed Nordic forests.

The team was made up of partner Helen Emmerson and legal director Kay Desai (real estate), with support from partner Matt Poole and associate Natalie Poole (tax) and finally senior associate Nick Harding (planning).

Predominantly, the team provided advice on entering into an option agreement, which is conditional on planning laws in respect of the chosen site in Goole.

Commenting on the advice given, Kay said:

"It has been a pleasure to advise Metsä Tissue on such a landmark international development that will facilitate a major overhaul in the operational, supply chain and sustainability led practices currently used within tissue manufacture in this country.

"The client team were fantastic to work with and we look forward to supporting the company again as its UK footprint expands."