How cleaning products firm Astonish is investing in a new Bradford factory

Family-owned Astonish has supplied household cleaning products to some of the UK’s biggest retailers for more than 40 years. Its stockists include B&M, Wilko, Aldi, Home Bargains Asda, Morrisons and Iceland.

Astonish is now making an investment totalling £20m, supported by a £12.5m revolving credit facility from Lloyds Bank. The business is set to more than double its floorspace when its new 120,000 sq ft facility opens its doors later this year.

The firm is investing in a full suite of new production equipment, allowing it to boost capacity across its liquid and paste product lines.

New end-of-line automation, underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI), will introduce further efficiencies in the final packaging and palletising stages of production.

The expansion also gives Astonish the capacity to introduce new ranges and hire 10 new staff to join its 80-strong workforce. It plans to expand its international footprint, tapping into demand for antibacterial trigger products across the Far and Middle East markets.

Mike Earnshaw, general manager at Astonish, said: “Over the last few years, we have seen demand soar and knew that we were approaching the time where we needed to move to a larger facility.

“When the UK entered lockdown last year, this accelerated rapidly, and we were pushed to produce many of our products faster than ever before.

“Moving to the new site will really help propel the business forward and meet the increasing demands of our customers domestically and internationally.

“We’re excited to stay in the West Yorkshire area, create new jobs and expand our product range even further.”

Mark Butterworth, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “We’re excited to see what’s next for Astonish and look forward to watching them go from strength to strength.”

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