Metsä Tissue has abandoned plans to build a 240,000 tonnes/year tissue paper mill in Goole, East Yorkshire, UK, cancelling a proposed investment worth several hundred million pounds. The project, announced in September 2023, was expected to become the UK's largest tissue paper manufacturing facility and create more than 400 direct jobs.
In a statement reported on November 13, Tobias Lüning, Senior Vice President (Commercial) and Managing Director of Metsä Tissue GmbH, confirmed the company's decision to withdraw from the project.
“Since announcing our plans in 2023, we have worked closely with the local community, businesses and authorities across East Riding of Yorkshire to bring the tissue mill project in Goole to life,” Lüning said.
He added that, following extensive pre-engineering, permitting processes and financial evaluations, the company had decided not to proceed with the project.
A major tissue investment abandoned
Metsä Tissue selected Goole for its planned UK mill in September 2023, with an investment valued at several hundred million pounds. The development was planned on a 211-acre site between Rawcliffe Road and the M62 motorway, within the Humber Freeport.
The project was designed to deliver up to 240,000 tonnes of fresh fibre-based tissue paper production capacity annually, developed in several phases over the coming decade. This would have represented approximately one-fifth of the UK's existing tissue consumption.
The facility was expected to create more than 400 direct jobs, with thousands of additional jobs anticipated across the construction phase, supply chain and local economy.
Metsä Tissue had presented the investment as a major step towards strengthening domestic tissue production and reducing the UK's reliance on imported products. The company estimated that the project could increase the UK's self-sufficiency in tissue paper production by more than 30%.
In February 2025, Metsä Tissue submitted a full planning application to East Riding of Yorkshire Council for the proposed mill. Full planning permission was subsequently secured in September 2026, following an extensive planning and permitting process.
Wykeland seeks alternative investors
Wykeland Group, the property developer that worked with Metsä Tissue on the project and holds the long-term development rights to the site, expressed disappointment over the withdrawal.
Dominic Gibbons, Managing Director of Wykeland Group, said the developer and other stakeholders had spent more than three years working towards securing detailed planning consent, which was obtained in early September 2026.
However, he said the site retains full planning consent for 3 million sq ft of manufacturing and high-bay warehousing space, alongside access to Freeport financial incentives.
Wykeland confirmed that it had already begun discussions with prospective alternative end users interested in developing the site.
Cancellation confirmed in 2025 accounts
Metsä Tissue's UK subsidiary had already disclosed the discontinuation of the project in its 2025 financial statements, filed with Companies House on October 6, 2026. According to the accounts, the company completed the pre-engineering and planning phase in 2025 but, following a Board review, decided not to proceed to construction.
Metsä Tissue Ltd recognized an impairment charge of £9.224 million against the project, fully writing down the associated assets under construction. The costs were subsequently reimbursed by Metsä Tissue Corporation Oyj.
