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Name: Greencroft Bottling Company
Industry/Sector: Food and drink
Date founded: 2003
The boss: Tony Cleary
Location: North East
Latest turnover: 32m
Three-year compound growth rate (%): 30.38
Latest EBITDA: 4.6m
Owned by the Lanchester Group, which also owns four other companies Lanchester Wines, Lanchester Gifts, Lanchester Energy and Lanchester Wine Sales Greencroft averages over 1.5m bottles a week for major retailers and wine producers.
It introduced a Tetra Pak line in 2012, expanding into wine packaging, and being fully recyclable and from sustainable sources has ensured the company keeps in line with reducing its carbon footprint.
Its now one of the largest wine bottlers in Europe, with a state-of-the-art bottling facility at its UK base. Greencroft operates five bottling lines six days a week and can fill over 50,000 bottles per hour. It also offers bespoke caps and cartons, with wrap round packaging and tray and shrink pack options, to deliver efficient options to customers.
Managing director Tony Cleary has said the company achieves growth by simply being good at what we do, focusing on investment and meeting customer needs . It has also become the only carbon-negative drinks company in the UK. Three planned wind turbines were introduced so bottled by sustainable wind power could be printed on the back of the companys bottles. Cleary has previously said sustainability is becoming increasingly important and the companys green credentials give it a distinct advantage here.
Lanchester Group recently announced it was investing 6.5m in boosting its storage capacity to cope with rapid growth. It has taken up additional warehousing in Gateshead, bringing its total storage close to one million square feet. It is also creating an extra 20 to 25 jobs, following a rise in turnover.
