£10m Lidl deal boosts Accrol
LANCASHIRE toilet roll company Accrol Group Holdings has confirmed a £10m contract with Lidl as it reports strong trading.
The Blackburn-based company also said in a trading update that it continues to follow its hedging policy to mitigate adverse movements in sterling against the dollar and euro and has further increased its facilities, following a significant purchase of dollars pre-Brexit.
In September, the company annouced that it is to open a new manufacturing plant in Leyland, creating 80 jobs and increasing total capacity to 143,000 tonnes a year.
The 168,000 sq ft plant will start production in January 2017 and initially house two high-speed tissue converting lines, as well as providing finished goods warehousing space.
Accrol said the new facility has the space to add two further converting lines if required and that the investment will support its continued growth with both the discounters and the major multiples in the UK.
Steve Crossley, Accrol’s chief executive, said: “Since the start of this financial year we have made good progress on our strategic aims and we are increasing our production capacity to enable us to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise.
“We are pleased with the new business that we have won since the start of the financial year and with progress on the manufacturing facility in Leyland, Lancashire and look forward to the future with confidence.”
Founded in 1993, Accrol manufactures around 16 million toilet rolls each week and supplies the likes of Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons, Bookers and Wilkinsons.
The company floated on the AIM in June, raising £63.5m and giving it a market capitalisation of £93m, in a move which saw private equity firm NorthEdge Capital achieve its first exit, but retain a 15% stake.
