I had a fascinating tour of Runcorn’s Guinness bottling and packaging plant after brand owners Diageo announced a £16m investment to upgrade the bottling line and expand warehouse capacity.

It’s an amazing success story because of the popularity of the product both at home and for export to places like the US and South Korea. Employee numbers are now at almost 200 on site.

I was impressed by the investment in plant, as well as in people, and really enjoyed meeting the apprentices. An optimistic future lies ahead, which is great news for Runcorn and the UK economy.

I even got the chance to sample a can of Guinness 0.0 – an alcohol-free product that is a growth area for the business.