Ethically-motivated cleaning company grows with new site facility
A Hull-based eco cleaning and detergent company has expanded into a new industrial unit following a £100,000 investment to meet growing demand.
The Bio-D Company has taken out a five-year lease on a 16,000sq ft unit, almost four times the size of its previous unit in Sutton Fields, four years after its current owners Lloyd Atkin and Sara Holtby took over the business.
The new industrial unit is the latest in a series of investments that has seen the business grow to 11 staff and turnover figure almost doublesince Mr Atkin and Ms Holtby bought the company in 2010.
The new site houses offices, meeting rooms, storage areas, five blending tanks with capacity from 1,000 to 10,000 litres, three production lines, a vertical form, filling and sealing machine and a production area for quality development and testing.
This year, The Bio-D Company celebrated 25 years in business after naval entrepreneur Michael Barwell started the business in 1988.
The business is receiving a grant from the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership which funds a percentage of the capital as the company installs further new equipment.
Managing director Mr Atkin said the company has taken a leap and moved to expand their approach and capacity.
"It is a really exciting time for us - everyone is looking forward to the challenge of growing into it and fulfilling our potential in the new site.
"We hope to expand our team to 15 by the end of next year to take on more technical staff and we're aiming to hire at least two people per year."
With the old site just 200 metres away, Mr Atkin added that it is important for the company to remain in Hull.
"Itis here that Bio-D was born and our employees, all local people, are extremely important to us - they would not want to move out of the area. Hull is the home of Bio-D."
This year, The Bio-D Company were chosen by Traidcraft to manufacture the world's first Fairtrade-certified cleaning range 'Clean and Fair'.
Ends
For more information, to request samples or to arrange an interview with Managing Director Lloyd Atkin, please contact Tracey Baty at three60 marketing on;
Direct line: 01430 871360
Mobile: 07971 961574
E mail:traceybaty@three60marketing.co.uk
Web:www.three60marketing.co.uk
Notes to editors
For more information about Bio-D, please visitwww.biodegradable.biz
Bio-D was founded in 1988 by naval entrepreneur Michael Barwell who was inspired to set up a business producing ecologically responsible cleaning products by a paper written about pollution from domestic effluent by Canadian A.M.Gower.
Bio-D is an independent, ethically motivated company that is dedicated to promoting the use of environmentally responsible detergents.It manufactures environmentally responsible cleaning and laundry products that are UK made, effective, biodegradable and hypoallergenic.