Cheers to that! Rochdale company invents first ever reusable plastic beer keg

Posted by on 15 Jul 2016

A Littleborough company is in talks with big name global breweries after securing an international patent for its new plastic beer keg.

Plastic Keg Company Ltd, which is based in Greenvale Business Park and is part of the Alliance Group, has come up with the new product which is lighter than the traditional steel barrel and costs more than 50% less.

Managing Director Jim Kelly was given a helping hand along the way by the council’s Executive Boardroom, which sees company directors from small to medium businesses across the borough get together four times a year at the town hall for peer group sessions led by a business growth expert.

Jim said: “The executive boardroom really helped me. I tended to get heavily involved in every aspect of my businesses before, but they advised me to take a step back and now I’ve brought a higher level management team in to help.

“I don’t think I’d have got as far with this idea had I not had that support. Now, partly because I took the advice and brought the extra people in, I’ve got a really exciting product, which is the only one of its kind in the world.

“We’re in talks with some really well known breweries, who are really enthusiastic about the product. The demand is such that, once we launch it onto the market, I think we could create 40 highly skilled local jobs in the first year alone.”

As well as being reusable, and therefore eco-friendly, the plastic keg can be used a number of times, and it has no theft value, making it an attractive prospect at a time when metal theft is estimated to be costing the UK economy £1bn a year.

Leader of Rochdale Borough Council, Cllr Richard Farnell, said: “We have a thriving manufacturing base here in the borough, but even the most successful companies need a bit of help and support to reach their full potential. The executive boardroom is a simple concept which costs very little, but is clearly having an impact on our businesses, which in turn will create jobs for our local residents.”

Businesses which would like to find out about the support and relocation services available in the Rochdale borough, can email: info@investinrochdale.co.uk