Ludlow News
Tenbury packaging company seals future in town with £6 million expansion
8:30am Thursday 23rd February 2012
A TENBURY-based firm which is one of the largest producers of plastic bottles in the UK is set for further growth after completing a new £6 million extension at its site in Tenbury.
Esterform Packaging, which was established in 1999, supplies preformed and moulded PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles to the beverage and household sectors.
It employs 148 people in Tenbury – the figure includes eight new posts created by the investment.
The business, which has another factory in Leeds, has a £65 million turnover.
It manufactures 1.5 billion preforms and 720 million bottles annually.
Recently, the company has seen demand for PET plastic bottles increase from the food sector, as rising legislation means supermarkets have to decrease CO2 emissions.
Using plastic containers instead of glass jars achieves this as they are lighter, therefore allowing a vehicle to transport an increased volume per journey.
A finance package negotiated with its bank has enabled the business to extend its factory in Tenbury, in order to increase its production of premade PET jars and containers.
“The environmental agenda is changing how foodstuffs are packaged and we have been working closely with major supermarkets to develop suitable PET alternatives to bulky items such as glass jars,” said Simon Hartley, finance director at Esterform Packaging. “In order to manufacture these products, we had to expand our facilities and purchase new machinery. By working closely with our client manager at Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, Adrian Mason, we were able to access further capital, based on the value of our inventory and machinery, without utilising our day-to-day cash flow.” The investment at Esterform comes at the same time as expansion plans have been announced for Kerry Food and Ingredients.