Glass manufacturer continues to plough millions into South Yorkshire site
HISTORIC Yorkshire glass manufacturer Beatson Clark is targeting more growth and continuing to pump millions of pounds into its manufacturing site.
The South Yorkshire business currently has a turnover of £45m, but said it is now targeting £50m within the next five years as it taps into the rising popularity of the independent brewery industry.
Established in Rotherham in 1751, Beatson Clark has a long heritage in the manufacture of glass containers for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage markets. The firm makes two types of glass: amber (brown) and white flint (clear). Major clients include speciality food producer Cottage Delight, craft beer company Brewdog, North Yorkshire’s Samuel Smith, Seven Seas, Boots, Reckitt Benckiser and Thornton & Ross.
Beatson Clark, which employs 330 people from its 400,000 sq ft South Yorkshire site, has recently ploughed £10m of investment into the business and over the rest of this year and next, will invest a further £10m in areas such as upgrading the amber furnace. The manufacturer, which says it is the only UK manufacturer of pharmaceutical glass, recently invested £80,000 in a six-head capping machine which will allow it to fulfil a contract with a major high street chemist to supply pre-capped alpha sirops, continental winchesters and bespoke round bottles.
Lynn Sidebottom, sales and marketing director, said: “Our main focus at the moment is the brewery sector. It is such a growing industry and we have already had a lot of growth there. Our investment and marketing efforts are going towards that sector.”
Charlotte Taylor, marketing manager, added: “It is growing tremendously with small breweries. They all want something a little bit different and this falls into where we want to be.”According to Beer Report 2014, published by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), its members grew volume sales by an estimated 7.9% in 2013 to 1.55m barrels – meaning the nation’s beer lovers drank nearly 33m more pints of local beer than in 2012.
Beatson Clark also focusses on design and sources sleeves for the bottles or embosses a design on the glass.
Sidebottom added: “Small niche food products is also a growth area. We’ve seen a massive increase of bespoke products. It is a booming area – particularly with the embossing.”
She said that the firm’s growth tends to be on the back of thriving markets but emphasised that the business will never be chasing the huge volumes, as its main focus is on smaller, niche markets.
Beatson Clark exports 20% of its business to 11 countries.
The firm, owned by parent company Newship, manufactures 511m units every year and 100,000 tonnes every year.
