North East female hygiene start up to expand workforce and exports

A North-East start-up producing female hygiene products is expanding across the globe in its second year of operation.

Northumberland-based Viveca Biomed is expecting to export between £2-3m of its innovative female health product, Contrelle Activgard, into overseas markets in the coming 12 months.

The company manufactures the Contrelle Activgard, a female bladder support product, designed to reduce or stop bladder leaks caused by Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI).

The business is supported by the Department for International Trade (DIT) as it has broken into markets in Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany, as well as further distribution agreements already in place.

Currently employing three people, Viveca Biomed has stated it will double its workforce in the coming weeks, as production at Ashington increases.

Managing director, Andrew Tasker, expects that exports will make up approximately 50 per cent of the company’s business this year, which is set to expand further with Viveca Biomed currently exploring opportunities in the Middle East Market.

Andrew commented: “This is a really exciting time for Viveca Biomed and the culmination of a great deal of hard work over the past two years.”

“Setting up a new business has its own unique challenges, but setting up during a pandemic saw us having to overcome things we could never have anticipated when we started out. It has been an incredibly interesting year.

“Viveca Biomed has fantastic clinical backing. We have an established brand and have created a fantastic £4m manufacturing plant in Ashington, and we’re now exploring markets all over the world.”

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