A COUNTY manufacturer of environmentally friendly paints says it will increase its workforce and continue to grow thanks to a grant from Herefordshire Council.

The grant, worth more than £9,000, is going to Edward Bulmer Natural Paints and has meant a significant expansion to its headquarters in Pembridge, near Leominster.

The funding is part of the Marches Building Investment Grant which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is is aimed at funding extensions, renovations and reconfigurations to commercial premises so that businesses can realise growth.

The firm initially launched in response to a client who requested that no chemicals should be used in their home. It soon became apparent, however, that there was a wider market for producing natural paints and so began a journey of incredible growth.

Director Emma Bulmer said: “We deliver a top-quality product and with so few truly natural paints available, we’ve quickly achieved stand-out in the market.

“With consumers increasingly aware of the negative impact of plastics and chemicals on the world around us, and our commitment to not only manufacturing these paints, but to also providing a personal consultancy service on their use, our growth has been meteoric.

“A year ago, we realised that we’d need to expand our Herefordshire base or risk losing out on both current sales and future growth.”

Emma and her co-director and husband, Edward, had a redundant barn building on their existing property which lent itself perfectly to be converted in to a dedicated

production and packaging facility, freeing up the existing building for use solely as meeting and office space.

“Moving to a new location wasn’t an option for us. We had the barn already here and a move would have entailed costs that we weren’t able to finance,” she said.

Open to all B2B firms, the scheme awards grants of up to 45% of project costs (to a maximum £100k) which are intended to cover conversion and alteration costs.

Details are available from Caroline Cattle and Alison Rogers on mbig@herefordshire.gov.uk or by calling 0345 6000 727.