Jutexpo announce new shareholders to shake up the retail industry
The owners of Evesham-based market-leading reusable bag designer and supplier Jutexpo have sold a stake of their business to Chinese partners.
After a five year partnership through their HALT Alliance with manufacturing partners in China, Baichuan (Best Trade Group Limited) and FeiFei (Lai Guang Zhou), Barrie and Sam Turner, owners of Jutexpo have announced the Chinese firms will become shareholders in their business.
Jutexpo has become the UK market leader in reusable bags and products made with rPET (from post-consumer plastic bottles), along with Jute,Juco, Cotton, and its core principle is 'Beyond the bag' which focuses on integrity through ethical production, social responsibility, quality and trust. Supplying clients such as Sainsbury’s Waitrose, John Lewis, Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
Baichuan are the converter of used post-consumer plastic bottles to yarn, and ultimately the fabric the company uses of various standards and qualities. FeiFei are the manufacturers of the finished products, with each product being made from recycled plastic bottles.
Chairman of Jutexpo, Barrie Turner has said: “In the true sense we become an international business, with a strong technical base, both at the core of the raw material, and in our product range. As senior shareholder/Chairman of this exciting company, I believe that taking this cooperative step is good for all staff, bankers, customers and our suppliers. Moreover, the blend of ownership underpins expansion and security – leaving the business free to concentrate on developing the range of unique products we supply.”
Sam Turner, Managing Director of Jutexpo added: “We are very excited to welcome our Chinese partners into the business, working collaboratively with them on the bottles to bags over the past five years has added to our success and this next stage in our business will shake up the reusable bag sector.
“What we are most excited about is being able to take the first steps in reducing the globablisation of the industry, and reducing the manufacturing process for our clients. Decreasing the current 3-5 month lead time to just a couple of weeks. This will be a gamechanger for our clients in the retail sector over the next couple of years.”
Lai Guang Zhou, FeiFei: "It's our great honour to be a partner of Jutexpo alongside Baichuan. Our cooperation gives me further confidence in our vision of preventing waste. By taking this next step, we aim to make even greater contributions to environmental sustainability."
Feipeng Zhang, Baichuan: "Our relationship with Jutexpo and Fei Fei has exemplified the idea of 'doing well by doing good'. The nature of our work means our business will only thrive by helping people make greener choices, and our newly deepened partnership will undoubtedly help us achieve this goal."
