UK film extruder chases orders with investment

The company installed an additional four blown film lines at its Wolverhampton site in the West Midlands in December, doubling the number of lines there. In July Chase will open an extension at its Enfield facility in London, adding 7,000 sq feet of production and storage space.

Total investment at the two sites is “in excess of £1m”, managing director Graeme Walters told PRW.

Despite the economic downturn, Chase has experienced an increase in business which Walters attributes in part to the weakness of sterling against the dollar and euro, causing customers to source product in the UK. Imports from Europe and the Pacific Rim continue to impact in the UK, but Chase says it is committed to manufacturing in the UK as it reduces lead times for customers and their need to hold stock.

Chase started business as a general packaging stockist but moved into manufacturing in 1994 to extrude, print and convert polyethylene products. The Wolverhampton site was opened around two years ago and the new investment is being made to ensure its continued expansion following the award of two substantial long-term contracts that necessitated an increase in workforce at both sites.

Walters puts the company’s success down to responding to customer needs. Unlike many film extruders, Chase keeps a large product stockholding and the expansion at Enfield will help this service further.

Walters said: “We can turn around orders in a timespan that our competitors are not even thinking of.”

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