Established in 1967, Colloids Ltd. has just celebrated 50 years of polymer masterbatch making. A ‘60s and ‘70s themed fancy dress party was held at the Liverpool Marriot hotel to mark this key milestone in the company’s history. The 50th Anniversary celebration party was attended by more than 130 past and present employees. The glittering, festive occasion was also the perfect opportunity to recognize and pay tribute to the valuable contributions to the business from two long serving Colloids employees: Frank Johnson, who is the IT Manager, received his 35 years’ long service award, along with Health & Safety Manager, Mick Sullivan who has been with Colloids for 25 years.
50 years on, with factories in Merseyside, Northamptonshire and China, Colloids is now firmly established as a leading multinational manufacturer of high quality coloured and black speciality compounds, additives and bespoke masterbatches. CEO Russell Livesey, aka “Ozzy Osbourne” on the night, reflected on the company spirit, how the business has developed over the last 50 years and shared future plans to take Colloids forward for the next 50 years, including further international overseas business expansion.
“I am very proud of the people working at Colloids, who have such a positive company spirit and determination to work hard and ensure continued business growth and success. At the heart of the business is our tremendously talented R & D team, which continues to develop innovative products for both new and existing customers and markets. The business has come a long way, especially since becoming part of the global Tosaf Group in 2004, which has helped Colloids to grow exports and expand internationally. In 2016, Colloids Plastic (Suzhou) Co, Ltd., our new masterbatch manufacturing plant located in Changshu, China started production, which has also helped us to secure new export orders for speciality plastic Masterbatches and concentrates made in our UK factories,” explained Livesey.
Livesey went on to say: “The future is looking very positive for Colloids, with strong double digit organic growth forecast for the coming years. The next strategic objective, which is already underway, is to set up Colloids masterbatch manufacturing operations in the USA to serve the North American market. This is a very exciting and challenging project, which when completed will see the Colloids brand established in Europe, Asia and North America.”
Livesey was appointed as Colloids’ Managing Director in 2006. He has been instrumental in leading significant business growth and a return to consistent profitability over the last 11 years. Colloids has grown from an annual turnover of less than £16 million to more than £45 million per annum, now with 160+ employees globally. Today, Colloids is globally recognized as being a highly innovativemanufacturer of high quality coloured and black speciality masterbatch compounds and additives, with proven colour matching capabilities and technical expertise in providing material for use in extrusion, injection and blow moulding. All Colloids’ masterbatches offer manufacturers technical, cost and quality benefits such as rapid dispersion, homogeneous mixing, and high extrusion throughput rates.
Colloids Group also has overseas links to Tosaf sister companies in Germany, Turkey, The Netherlands, Israel and the USA, offering a global service to the plastics industry for coloured, black and performance enhancing additives. Colloids has automotive industry ISO/TS 16949 accreditation, with its manufacturing sites having ISO 9001 quality accreditation and 14001 environmental accreditation, supplying the automotive, E&E, construction pipe and geomembrane markets, as well as polymer producers and compounders worldwide.