Multi-million pound investments in machinery & the revitalisation of apprentice training are helping a 260-year-old Rotherham firm to expand in niche markets & secure its future. Beatson Clark can trace its history back to the 1750s. For years, the pharmaceuticals industry has been a key customer for the 320 employee business. But, following its acquisition by the Newship Group in the 1980s, the company began applying its skills & reputation for maintaining the ultra high standards of hygiene required by drugs firms to the food & drinks industry. The move took the company into sectors which highly prize the ability to create innovative & distinctive packaging designs that can play an important part in the customer's marketing strategies. That has, in turn, stood the company in good stead as pharmaceuticals customers have also discovered a need to make their proprietary products stand out from the generic crowd. Customers include big brands like Heinz & Baxters & a host of well-known brewers of speciality beers, as well as pharmaceutical companies like Reckitt Benckiser. Beatson Clark puts some of its success down to its flexibility. The Rotherham firm is large enough to have the facility to design special ranges for customers as well as its own standard ranges, which are regularly updated. At the same time, it has the ability to cater for shorter runs than bulk manufacturers, allowing clients to try out new ideas & tune their packaging requirements to a developing market. A £16M investment programme covering the next two years will see the company increase the capacity of its furnaces & forming machines & install a new, integrated, non contact, vision based automatic inspection facility that will replace a series of machines the company currently uses.
