MORE than 100 new jobs are being created on Wirral with the opening of a plastic recycling factory for a major manufacturer.

Albéa Creative UK, a joint venture between India-based Creative Group and Albéa Group, headquartered in France, has taken a 130,000 square foot facility in Bromborough.

The move brings the key supplier of sustainable packaging closer to their customers in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector.

The multi-million pound investment is supported by Wirral Council, Growth Platform, local investor Alliance Fund Managers, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and the Department for International Trade.

The joint venture brings world-first innovations in plastics recycling, with the ultimate aim of eliminating non-recycled plastics from the FMCG products found on supermarket shelves and in our homes.

This investment was identified in 2018 when representatives from Wirral Council, working with the Liverpool City Region Investment Service, visited India as part of the programme of targeted investment meetings alongside the Department for International Trade.

Also attending the launch event was Alan Gemmel OBE, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia and British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India.

The project is supported by a £1m loan from the Flexible Growth Fund. The £20m Flexible Growth Fund was established in January 2020, when Mayor Steve Rotheram launched a £75m Business Growth Package. The Flexible Growth Fund is managed on behalf of the LCR Combined Authority by Alliance Fund Managers (AFM).

François Luscan, of Albéa Creative UK, said: "This project brings together a partnership of companies sharing a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility, with project partners and customers paying a lot of attention to their local community.

"The past two years have demonstrated that resilience always starts in the community, and the economic, social and environmental value of supply chains that are shorter, agile and solidary."

Chair of Wirral Council's economy, regeneration and housing committee, Cllr Tony Jones, said: "We have worked hard in Wirral to make this borough a welcoming and viable location for investment.

"It's incredibly gratifying to see this paying off and doubly pleasing to see such an innovative company whose work will not only bring jobs and growth but deliver very real and much needed environmental benefits.”

Speaking at the launch event, Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Jeff Green said: "As a sustainable manufacturing hub, it’s fantastic to see global giants like Albéa Creative choosing to come to Wirral, bringing investment, innovation and creating sustainable jobs to support the local economy and those who live here."

Jeff Cummins, investment manager with Alliance Fund Managers, said: "It was great to be involved, at an early stage, helping to shape the funding support needed to enable this project to progress and the Company complete its relocation to the Liverpool City Region.

"The sustainability aspect of the business, alongside the number of new local jobs being created were key factors in why we were keen to provide suitable support.

"We hope that more LCR based businesses, who are looking at growth to create new locally based jobs, consider bringing forward their plans to take advantage of the Super-Deduction for capital expenditure announced within the 2021 Budget, and if they do, support through this fund is still available’’

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: "Our region is a global leader in the world of advanced manufacturing, including a flourishing partnership with Unilever that is delivering significant advances in new materials. It’s fantastic to be able to tie together our work on innovation with the difference that Combined Authority investments are making.

"In all, this is a key part of the way in which I’m working to diversify our economy, create new, well-paid jobs and to position the Liverpool City Region at the head of the Green Industrial Revolution.”