Clear plastics group Plastech refurbs factory after Alplast move.

Clear plastic packaging maker Plastech has overhauled its Scottish facility after the Alplast business it acquired three years ago moved into the site.

Plastech bought Buckinghamshire-based Alplast in 2007 but moved the business's manufacturing to its own 4,000sqm facility in Glenrothes, Scotland at the end of last year.

Plastech has now completed a major refurbishment programme since the move in the first quarter of 2010.

The consolidated business can, Plastech said, provide clients with a one-stop-shop for the design and manufacture of clear plastic promotional packaging aimed at the retail sector.

Plastech managing director Tom Stirling said: "It made perfect sense to centralise the packaging operation at our headquarters, where we have a highly skilled staff and an excellent manufacturing and support infrastructure already in place."



Alplast was bought by Plastech as a going concern in November 2007 for an undisclosed sum. It was agreed by both parties that the operation would continue to operate out of its New Woad Farm base in Buckinghamshire for a further two years.

As part of the agreement, the former owners of Alplast retired from the business within a year of the deal, when the financial administration was absorbed into Plastech.

According to Stirling, Alplast staff were advised well in advance of the changes and were able to find new positions locally, or accepted an early retirement package before the relocation.

Plastech’s management said it incorporated Alplast’s plastic die-cutting, carton folding and gluing, and box lid and base processes its Glenrothes site to enable it to create better economies of scale.

Stirling added: "Our expansion has enabled us to branch out substantially and we now provide a complete portfolio of clear plastic packaging solutions."

Traditionally, Plastech has specialised as a thin-walled clear plastic extruded tubing specialist. Customers have included Revlon, Marks & Spencer and Cadbury's.