Partner Article

Bottle firm breaks out of the downturn

A North East firm specialising in custom-made bottles is planning its expansion after some “tough” times in the recession.

Abstract Bottles, based at the Camperdown Industrial Estate in Newcastle, creates designer bottles for companies, events, and individual customers.

Despite the difficulties of the recession, the firm is planning to make the most of 2010, starting with the potentially lucrative personalised gifts market in the run up to Valentine’s Day.

Abstract Bottles has created specialised bottles in the past for football and rugby teams, car manufacturers, banks, and hotels.

The company now plans to build on this by expanding beyond the UK, having received interest from customers as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

Managing director Graham Crozier was inspired to start the company five years ago when he was given an unusual gift.

Mr Crozier said: “I was given a bottle of wine in the shape of a rugby ball, and I thought: ‘I can take this to various rugby clubs and sell it to them’. So we looked at colouring the bottle – black for the Newcastle Falcons, cherry red for Gloucester, etc. But then we found we couldn’t get the bottles filled as they were such an odd shape. So we then moved into generic shapes and took those to the corporate market.”

Absract Bottles sell to individual customers too, and Christmas and Valentine’s Day are busy times for them.

“We do a lot for the likes of Valentine’s. People design their own bottle on the internet – the colour, the design, the liquid, everything. If your boyfriend is a Newcastle United supporter, you can get a black and white striped bottle.”

Mr Crozier also said the recession had been “very, very tough” for the firm. “It has been quite tough, but we’ve weathered the storm. We’re still training, we’re still working. We’re the only ones doing what we’re doing, and now we’re planning to grow the business and move on to the next stage.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .