Female entrepreneur celebrates 21 years of plastics business

A plastic injection moulding company with a female entrepreneur at the helm is celebrating a major milestone as well as sales growth in 2014.

Tyne Valley Plastics, based in Prudhoe, Northumberland, was established 21 years ago by Gill Rice and is on target to achieve 20 percent sales growth this year.

Gill, who studied at The London School of Polymer Technology, started her career on the shop floor setting machines for production but was swayed by the idea of clean hands and a smart suit, so left her job to pursue a career selling plastic raw materials.

After two years in sales, the lure of manufacturing got too much and she returned to the busy production environment she loved. Three years later, in 1993, Gill started her own injection moulding business.

When she started out, the company operated from one industrial unit in Low Prudhoe, today the company has expanded into four units, with plans to move into its own premises within the next five years.

Tyne Valley Plastics specialises in customer-specific plastic components, which are supplied to companies across the UK and worldwide. The company has over 60 combined years of experience and is going from strength to strength.