United Caps to set up closures plant in France

Luxembourg-headquartered caps/closures maker United Caps will build a new plant in Normandy, France, adding on to its eight existing plants in Europe and the two future extensions in Malaysia and in the UK.

The new manufacturing plant will be set up in the Valframbert Business Park of Alençon, France. The firm says it is currently negotiating the purchase of 25,000 sq m of land upon which a purpose-built factory will be constructed, with a first construction phase of 4,000 sq m. This project represents an investment of EUR12 million and is expected to employ 15 staff in two years.

“The Valframbert Business Park is an ideal location for us,” says Benoit Henckes, CEO of United Caps. “With our ‘Close to You’ strategy, we seek to place our factories as close to our customers as possible, as shown by the two new factories that will open next year, in Malaysia and the UK. We are especially interested in building a factory in Alençon because of its proximity to customers, who will have access to our full portfolio of solutions, and will also benefit from the proximity to our R&D centre in Messia (Jura, France) if customisation or bespoke development is required.”

The company has a R&D facility in Messia, France, and this year expanded further the capabilities of the facility.

In June this year, it announced its expansion to Dinnington, Rotherham, UK. Production is expected to begin at the end of 2019 and will initially focus on beverage and dairy closures, with options to add additional segments as needed. This project represents an estimated EUR20 million investment including the first phase of machinery and is expected to increase group turnover by 15% in phase one and will initially employ 20 staff. The firm already has a plant in Ireland.

In Asia, its plant in Malaysia is on track and expected to open end of this year.

This year, it also acquired Spanish closures company Embalatap.