Big Bear Plastics roars ahead with growth plans

A Worcestershire-based plastics manufacturer is gearing up for its next phase of growth following a multi-million-pound investment aimed at boosting capacity and opening up new markets.

Big Bear Plastics has completed a £2 million investment programme to strengthen its manufacturing capabilities and support expansion into new sectors, including point-of-sale retail and defence. 

The Droitwich-headquartered business plans to maximise the use of two CNC machines, alongside a newly installed robot and waterjet machine, as it looks to build on demand across a range of industries.

Led by managing director Emma Hockley, who was once the marketing and communications manager at London’s famous luxury department store Harrods, the company already works with customers in the agricultural, construction and leisure sectors and is positioning itself as a specialist in vacuum forming and compression moulding. 

The latest investment is also supporting the rollout of a new ERP system to improve manufacturing efficiency, streamline new product introductions and underpin long-term growth ambitions.

Emma said: “There’s been a lot of change and consolidation in the plastics sector and that represents a big opportunity for us.

“We’ve invested heavily in new technology and getting experienced manufacturing specialists in place and feel we have the platform and capability now to overcome some of industry’s pain points, including speed of response, material innovation and achieving world class quality in both low and higher volumes.

“These are already delivering solutions for OEMs in automotive, agriculture and mobile home providers and we believe there are plenty of opportunities where we can deliver products to retail, as well as maximising a renewed focus on defence.”

Founded in 1998 by Emma’s father Gerald Bloom, Big Bear Plastics operates from a 75,000sq ft facility and offers a full-service manufacturing solution, from design and tooling through to medium and high-volume production of large-format moulded components. 

Over time, the business has expanded its capabilities to include compression moulding and waterjet cutting of lightweight interior trim products.

Accredited to ISO 9001 and progressing environmental and defence-sector standards, the company is targeting turnover growth beyond £10 million by 2027 as it builds on its reputation for reliability, responsiveness and service-led manufacturing.

Emma, a recent inductee of the Great 100 campaign by the Made Group, added: “Our sales are growing steadily, and I genuinely believe we can achieve and sustain sales of £10million+ by 2027.

“We’ve got the capacity, we’ve got the technology, we’ve got the experience and we’ve got a strong sales pipeline, featuring exciting opportunities in new markets. 

“As we move towards our goal, I believe we’ll be able to create more than 20 jobs during this time, taking our total workforce to 100 people.”

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