Wells Plastics announces management buyout

Masterbatch compounder Wells Plastics has announced a secondary management buyout (MBO) led by the two Executive Directors, Carl Birch and Stuart Law.

The MBO sees technical manager, Dr Gary Ogden becoming a share-holder and the formation of a new Executive Management Team from within the business.

The MBO bought out the two previous long-term investors following an initial MBO in 2011 and “chimes the start of a new exciting chapter for the company”, according to a statement.

Carl Birch, sales and marketing director, said: “This MBO has been a long time in the making and will provide true incentivisation for the executive management team to contribute and develop to the on-going success of the business. We are extremely excited about the future of Wells as we continue to develop new materials, applications and partnerships within the industry”.

Stuart Law, finance and operations director said: “We have all worked extremely hard in recent years, despite the challenges of Brexit, global pandemics and input cost price increases turnover has more than doubled to over £20m and the manufacturing facility has been extended to accommodate additional capacity. This MBO now presents an opportunity for management to share in the success and future growth of the business”.

The MBO follows investments and growth within the company including the recent creation of an Innovation Centre lead by Dr Gary Ogden to support the ongoing development of bespoke masterbatches and compounds.

Wells, formed in 1984, claims to be the largest independent specialist additive masterbatch manufacturer within the UK, offering a range of functional additive masterbatches and bespoke compounds with a capacity in excess of 10,000t/annum.

With a team of technical, sales and production staff, development and manufacturing facilities based in the United Kingdom, Wells offers a range of products and services to the plastics processing industry both within the UK and internationally.