£3m Yorkshire eco-friendly manufacturer opens “state-of-the-art” facility

Keighley based sustainable chemical manufacturer The Friendly Chemical Co. (FCC) has celebrated the opening of a new 6k sq ft warehousing facility at its Soap Factory home.

It brings its total footprint to 10k sq ft across three units, with the business scaling production to maintain demand for its eco-friendly cleaning ranges.

The new site will act as a “state-of-the-art bulk chemical blending facility” and home for its technical and production team, which has grown from five to 17 over the last six months. It will enable the team to blend up to 300k litres of product a month, doubling monthly production levels for its Miniml cleaning range.

The new facility will enable the sustainable leader to extend its closed loop system. FCC is one of the only manufacturers within the UK to operate such a system, creating a fully zero waste supply chain.

Founded in 2017 by Emma Tapper and Scott Rudd, the team has expanded from a two-person start up to a business employing 17 staff. In 2021, revenues topped £710k, with the business on track for £3m by FY22.

FCC is also on track to become a certified B-Corp, having recently been recognised for its environmental impact in the UK’s Ethical Consumer Guide, given ‘Best Buy’ status.

Emma Tapper, co-founder and director of the Friendly Chemical Co, said: “We’re coming to the close of an incredible year for the FCC team, and as we continue to grow, we needed the space to do so.

“As we looked to create new roles within the Technical and Production Teams, growing our footprint was key. We wanted to maintain our Keighley roots, to keep the business yorkshire born and bred, and we’re delighted with how the site expansion has gone.

“It’ll enable us to quickly ramp up production and maintain the demand we’re currently experiencing for our ranges. Consumers are keen to make small switches to have a greener lifestyle, whether that’s in the products they use or the companies they support. Sustainability is at our core of FCC, and we want to share this with customers.”