A GBP 10m investment is underway at Bemis Swansea Ltd. (GB-Wales-Swansea SA7 9BB; www.swansea.gov.uk) to increase the production area and install additional extrusion machinery for production of shrink films and bags for the food packaging industry. Part of the global Bemis Flexible Packaging Group (www.bemis.com), the Swansea plant will create 40 further jobs on the site by the end of 2004. Some GBP 1.4m of the investment is being provided under the Regional Selective Assistance scheme operated by the Welsh Assembly.

“The current expansion programme is in line with Bemis´ commitment in continued growth in its core business in Europe,” says Matthew Jackson, general manager shrink products division Europe. “This investment will allow Bemis to implement new product initiatives aimed at specific markets throughout Europe.”

Bemis Swansea, formerly known as Curwood Packaging, is part of the group´s Curwood business that specialises in the production of multi-layer, coextruded, coated and laminated film structures. The Swansea plant already uses high barrier technology in its film processes and is one of a number of Bemis factories across Europe that complements the parent company´s operations in the Americas, where it is the leading manufacturer of flexible packaging, of which 60% is printed film. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MA, Bemis has global sales of USD 2.3 bn and 11,000 employees.