‘The kind of factory I can get on board with’: Ricky Wilson excited for new Walkers crisp factory in Leicester

Ricky Wilson revealed he is a huge fan of crisps as he discussed the opening of a new Walker’s Factory in Leicester. The Kaiser Chiefs frontman, 45, got excited about the crisp company’s £58 million investment whilst presenting his drivetime slot on Virgin Radio UK.

He said: “Walkers are building a new factory in Leicester. A new crisp factory, oh this is the kind of factory I can get on board with. If Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had been a Charlie and the Crisp Factory, I’d be opening packets left, right and centre to get invited there. Chocolate is one thing but I can eat crisps forever. Chocolate, a couple of bars in and I’d be like ‘I’ve had enough’, but crisps you can just go and go and go.”

Ricky then sang a short snip of ‘Pure Imagination’ by Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory actor Gene Wilder, before telling listeners that the American actor, who died in 2016, follows him and just 12 others on Twitter. Gene didn’t reprise his 1971 starring role as Willy Wonka when the film was recreated as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005, with Johnny Depp instead playing the lead.

Walkers, the makers of classics such as Wotsits and Monster Munch, are set to receive a £58m investment at its Leicester site from owners PepsiCo. The investment is the biggest in the UK for 25 years and will mark the world’s biggest crisp and snack factory’s 75th anniversary. PepsiCo said the investment would see a new manufacturing line installed, existing machinery replaced, and it will create up to 100 new jobs.