Tea and herbal drinks packaging company Infusion GB to increase production capacity by 35% at its plant in Gloucestershire, England, with £1M investment in new machinery that will produce tea bags in non-staple tag, envelope-style formats

Elyse Blye

GLOUCESTERSHIRE, England , September 18, 2013 (press release) – ACOUNTY-based tea and herbal drinks packaging company has unveiled a Pounds 1million expansion plan.

Infusion GB will invest the money on new machinery on the back of an increased order book as demand for different kinds of herbal teas goes through the roof. The financial package from HSBC will enable it to purchase a tea bag packaging machine from Italy that will enable it to increase production capacity by 35 per cent at its plant at Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth.

The investment will also enable Infusion to produce tea bags in a wider number of formats, including a non-staple tag and envelope style.

Infusion GB has secured the finance package from HSBC's Gloucestershire Commercial team in a deal led by senior international commercial manager Steve Breckon. Infusion GB has also switched to the bank as part of the deal.

The company was formed in 1985 and was acquired by current owners Peter Barry and Bruce Stevens in 2008. It has experienced strong growth in recent years on the back of the surge in popularity of herbal teas and health-based hot drinks. Infusion GB packages tea for the likes of Lipton, Twinings and Pukka Herbs. Turnover at the business is expected to reach Pounds 2.8million this year, up from Pounds 2.3million the previous year. Director Bruce Stevens said: We have experienced strong organic growth in recent years and the driver behind that is largely the popularity of herbal teas, in addition to our on-going investment in up-to-date technology and quality standards. Supermarkets have gone from stocking one or two options of herbal teas to having entire shelves devoted to them and our customer base has expanded in response. It's important that we keep innovating and investing to ensure we can keep pace with customer demand and also so that we can offer the full range of tea bag formats.

Steve Breckon said: Infusion GB is always a pleasure to visit as the smell of the herbal teas is fantastic.

Peter and Bruce are passionate about the business, have a clear understanding of where they want to take the company and enjoy a fantastic reputation in the industry.

We look forward to working with the company as it progresses.

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