Firm cleans up with £20m investment

A family-owned manufacturer of cleaning products is to more than double its capacity across several core product lines following a move to a new production facility in Bradford, after receiving support from Lloyds Bank.

Astonish has supplied household cleaning products to some of the UK’s biggest retailers for more than 40 years.

Its stockists include B&M, Wilko, Aldi, Home Bargains, Asda, Morrisons and Iceland.

Now, in an investment totalling £20m and supported by a £12.5m revolving credit facility from Lloyds Bank, Astonish is looking forward to its new 120,000 sq ft facility opens its doors later this year.

The firm is investing in a full suite of new production equipment, allowing it to boost capacity across its liquid and paste product lines.

New end-of-line automation, underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI), will introduce further efficiencies in the final packaging and palletising stages of production.

The expansion also gives the company the capacity to introduce new ranges and hire 10 new staff to join its 80-strong workforce.

It plans to expand its international footprint, tapping into demand for antibacterial trigger products across the Far and Middle East markets.

Mike Earnshaw, general manager, said: “Over the last few years, we have seen demand soar and knew that we were approaching the time where we needed to move to a larger facility.

“When the UK entered lockdown last year, this accelerated rapidly, and we were pushed to produce many of our products faster than ever before.

“Moving to the new site will really help propel the business forward and meet the increasing demands of our customers domestically and internationally.

“We’re excited to stay in the West Yorkshire area, create new jobs and expand our product range even further.

“Mark and the wider team at Lloyds Bank have become true business partners to us, taking the time to understand our ambitions and craft a package that best suits our needs.

“We are now ideally placed to take the next step in our growth journey, expanding at home and abroad, and ensuring we remain at the cutting edge of cleaning and hygiene solutions.”

Mark Butterworth, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, added: “Astonish has already achieved impressive growth in recent years, and the opening of its new facility will turbocharge its expansion even further, helping the team to capitalise on demand in new markets, as well as create local jobs and investment.

“We’re excited to see what’s next for Astonish and look forward to watching them go from strength to strength.”