Chemicals firm has stars in its eyes after impressive growth

CHEMICALS manufacturer Vickers Laboratories, which supplied the chocolate river in Tim Burton’s hit remake Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has been put in the spotlight by Santander after years of growth.

Vickers Laboratories has outpaced a challenging economic climate with growth of 10% a year since 2010, and with aggressive plans to continue on this growth path.

The firm currentlyhas a turnover of £3 million and employ 26 members of staff.  

The 45-year-old business was family-owned until 2010. A management buyout saw a new team, in the form of managing director Steve Foster, commercial director Paul Bottomley and operations director Phil Constantine, take over the business.

Since then the business has diversified its revenue streams, including providing chemicals to the contact lens manufacturing industry as well as supplying school science labs and the TV and film industry, and recently invested £500,000 in new machinery .

The Santander Breakthrough Moments box came to Leeds on Monday March 23 for a five-day festival of events, aimed at helping businesses with ambition.

The event hosted a number of selected local businesses as case studies, advocating the service and support scheme provided by Santander for those businesses with a propensity for growth.

Pitched in City Square Leeds, the event was held to engage delegates and showcase Santander SME success stories such as Leeds-based chemical manufacturing experts Vickers Laboratories.

Vickers supplied one million litres of ‘brown gloop’ to create the chocolate river in the 2004 Tim Burton remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and has also supplied other products for movies, including ‘asses’ milk for Universal Pictures’ Snow White and the Huntsman.

Steve Foster, managing director at Vickers said: “In the last few years we expanded quickly, as well as diversifying our offering. Our search for bank funding brought us into contact with Santander Relationship Director Hardeep Thandi in May 2014, of the banks we talked to, one sent an email and Santander, within days, sent three people who asked pertinent, intelligent questions, that made me think these people understood what manufacturers do.”
“To then be approach by the bank to represent the region’s growing businesses in an event such as this was a no-brainer for us. Endorsement in the growth of the business and recognition such as this was an honour we just didn’t want to turn down and is a testament to the relationship we now have with Hardeep and his team.”