New £18m bottle cap factory to create 20 jobs
United Caps – which manufactures caps and closures for food and drink packaging – said the initial facility would be 5,000m2, with an option to expand to 20,000m2 as business growth demanded.
With sites in Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Luxembourg and Ireland, this will be the company’s first facility in the UK.
The firm said production was expected to begin at the end of 2019 and would initially focus on beverage and dairy closures, with options to add additional segments as needed.
Highest demand
Chief executive Benoît Henckes said: “Our studies reflected that demand was highest for beverage and dairy closures. More specifically, we will focus on the production of plastic closures for flat and medium carbonated drinks, as well as fruit juices and dairy products in PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles.
“Of course, our customers in the United Kingdom will have access to our full portfolio of caps and closures, as well as to the expert resources in our Messia [France] research and development facility.”
The investment, including the first phase of machinery, is expected to increase group turnover by 15% in phase one, with plans to create more jobs in the future.
Paul Gory, plant director of United Caps’ site in Greystones, Ireland, will oversee the Rotherham plant as well, having served eight years at the site, and has been involved in the transfer of production lines to the new site in Dinnington.
‘Central location’
Henckes added: “We chose Rotherham because of its central location along the M1, available technical skilled people and the reasonable cost of land in that area. We are looking forward to working closely with the Rotherham Council as the project proceeds.”
Commenting on the development, leader of Rotherham Council Chris Read said he was looking forward to working with United Caps.
“The beginning of operations means 20 new jobs almost immediately, and the welcome news that we can be hopeful there will be many more jobs to come for dedicated local people in the future,” said Read.
