Manufacturer secures £15m reshoring haul

Bee Health, which manufactures capsules, creams, liquids, powders, sprays and tablets, has secured the orders after impressing its global customer base with flexibility of supply and world class levels of quality. The company, which has received funding and strategic support from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), is now more competitive than a lot of its international rivals, with work previously completed in China, India and even the US now heading to the UK. The reshoring work is made up of £7m of tablet manufacture that is currently underway and a further £8m of tablet and soft gel production set to start shortly. A significant slice of these orders have come from Holland & Barrett, which has cited local sourcing as key to boosting supply chain efficiencies and helping it react quickly to market demands. "These recent wins will account for 70% of our predicted turnover and has already seen the workforce increase by 60 to 130 with the potential of a further 70 by the end of the year," explained Steve Ryan, managing director of Bee Health. "Although we manufacture our own brand products, pretty much all of the new contracts will be completed under license to other global customers who had been manufacturing in low cost countries. "These organisations have experienced gradual rises in costs, disruption in supply and unmanageable lead times. This has caused some clients to hold million pounds of stock at any one time, something that really impacts on cash flow." He continued: "All of these factors have contributed to a more positive view of UK manufacturing and this, coupled with our efficiency savings and investment in state-of-the-art equipment, has led to us securing the new orders." John Dodgson, manufacturing advisor at MAS, added: "The popularity of low cost countries is ebbing away, with the UK now a popular location for companies looking to place production." The picture shows John Dodgson (left) of MAS and Steve Ryan of Bee Health.