Big Bear Plastics’ managing director Emma Hockley is expanding installation of two CNC machines, a new robot, and a waterjet machine to increase manufacturing capacity. The company is pursuing new work in point-of-sale retail and defense, alongside existing contracts in agriculture, construction, and leisure markets. An upgraded ERP system is supporting process control and new product introductions as the company targets revenue growth beyond £10 million by 2027.
“There’s been a lot of change and consolidation in the plastics sector and that represents a big opportunity for us,” explained Emma, who marked five years at the helm this month.”
“We’ve invested heavily in new technology and getting experienced manufacturing specialists in place and feel we have the platform and capability now to overcome some of industry’s pain points, including speed of response, material innovation and achieving world class quality in both low and higher volumes.”
She went on to add: “These are already delivering solutions for OEMs in automotive; agriculture and mobile home providers and we believe there are plenty of opportunities where we can deliver products to retail, as well as maximizing a renewed focus on defense.”
The firm supports molded part production from design and tooling through medium- to high-volume manufacturing. It produces parts up to 3.5m x 2.5m, and works with thermoplastics such as ABS, PMMA-ABS, HDPE, HIPS, PC, and PE across varied colors, finishes, and thicknesses.
Emma added: “Our sales are growing steadily, and I genuinely believe we can achieve and sustain sales of £10m+ by 2027.”
“We’ve got the capacity, we’ve got the technology, we’ve got the experience and we’ve got a strong sales pipeline, featuring exciting opportunities in new markets. As we move towards our goal, I believe we’ll be able to create more than 20 jobs during this time, taking our total workforce to 100 people.
“Thermoforming allies itself to multiple sectors and we’re starting to explore more of these. For instance, we’re producing parts ranging from children’s play equipment to highly technical panels for vehicle modifications and aerospace applications…we’re also in discussions with military and defense specialists.”
She concluded: “Manufacturing is completely different to what I was used to as Perfumery & Cosmetics Buyer at Harrods, arguably the world’s biggest and most luxury retailer.”
“Here I came up with the Perfume Diaries, an exhibition charting the history of perfume, which generated more than £2m of press coverage and significant sales results. It’s this eye for ‘telling a story’ I want to bring into the world of industry; it will just need to focus on the benefits of vacuum forming plastics rather than high-end fragrance brands!”
Source: Big Bear Plastics
About Big Bear Plastics
Big Bear Plastics designs, prototypes, and manufactures medium and large thermoformed plastic components for industrial customers. The company provides vacuum forming, pressure forming, twin-sheet forming, tooling, CNC trimming, assembly, compression molding, and waterjet cutting services. It serves automotive, aerospace, construction, agriculture, and general industrial markets. Big Bear Plastics was founded in 1998 by Gerald Bloom, who previously built tier 1 automotive supplier Midland Industrial Plastics. The company is headquartered in Droitwich, Worcestershire, UK and operates from a 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. It supports customers across the full production cycle, from early design input to series manufacturing. Operations process a range of thermoplastic materials and produce lightweight interior and functional components in varied sizes. Big Bear Plastics works with OEMs and industrial suppliers seeking custom plastic parts. The company holds ISO 9001 certification, is recommended for ISO 14001 environmental certification, and is progressing toward inclusion in the JOSCAR supplier register for aerospace, defense, and security sectors.