Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 11th April 2024 Issue no. 1109

Your industry news - first

The original and best - for over 20 years!

We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.

RP Adam opens new £100,000 powder plant at Selkirk factory

RP Adam Ltd (Arpal Group) has opened a new £100,000 UK powder production plant at its manufacturing base in Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders.

The new facility has been designed to meet a growing demand for powdered detergent across the UK, and will initially handle 400,000 kilos of product per year, aiming to exceed the one million kilo mark by 2020.

The investment forms part of a wider £400,000 plant improvement and expansion programme delivered by RP Adam in 2016 which has included a major expansion of the factory and warehouse facilities, resulting in a 40% increase in storage capacity at the Selkirk site in line with increased business growth.

"Our new in-house production plant has taken two years of planning, testing and implementation and now brings a new dimension to our UK manufacturing base," notes Martin Carroll, group technical director at RP Adam. "It will allow us to treble our production capacity of powder over the next five years, as well as giving us a security of supply of a product for which we have seen a steady increase in demand in recent years, especially across the UK healthcare and catering market.

"RP Adam is best known for its liquid detergents, but this strategic investment means we can now handle almost any pack size and any volume required - whether it is liquid or powder."

RP Adam is set to use its new facility to capitalise on the to-own-label market, as a complement to its branded offering. For commercial kitchens, this includes tannin removing destainer, powder degreaser, heavy-duty de-carboniser, dish wash powder and a sanitising powder. For the licenced trade, there is a glass renovating powder and, for the on-premises laundry market, a range of laundry powder detergents and stain removal products.

A fourth-generation family-owned company, RP Adam is a leading manufacturer of cleaning and disinfection products which this year celebrates its 125th year in business. It services customers across the UK as well as operating successful subsidiaries across the Middle East.

The company currently employs nearly 100 people across the UK and the Selkirk plant expansion comes as UK production volumes increase to match year-on-year sales growth. The 2014/15 financial year saw the manufacturing volume at Selkirk rise by 11%, and this year volumes are set to increase by a further 13%.

The recent expansion at Selkirk plant is a major part of RP Adam's five-year investment and growth programme, launched to mark the anniversary, which sets out a £20 million turnover target to be reached by 2020.

Group sales & marketing director Max Adam, the fourth-generation Adam to be involved in the business adds: "This is an exciting time for the company and this new investment at our factory further emphasises our desire to increase our manufacturing and logistics capabilities to match current and future growth.

"The Group's general UK and overseas production volumes have increased significantly year-on-year, with our manufacturing volume at Selkirk rising by 25% over a two-year period. Our business interests in the Middle East have also had a positive impact with production volumes up by 32% in the last three years.

"This means we can take a much broader view of strategic investment over the longer-term - especially in those key areas which can have a positive impact on our production capabilities."

T: +44 (0)1750 23780
E: [email protected]
W: www.rpadam.co.uk

2nd June 2016