Encirc’s chief- acquisition gives ‘real security’ for Derrylin workers

The purchase of The Park and the agreement will see Accolade Wines enter a 10-year contract bottling and distribution agreement with Encirc to ensure ongoing support for its flagship beverage brands.

The move will utilise rail distribution between sites and supply into retail, enabling Encirc to provide an ultra-efficient, sustainable supply chain service across the UK beverage market.

It is the most recent development for Encirc, which also has factories in Elton, Cheshire and Corsico, Italy.

“We have been looking at this for the past four or five years and it’s only in the last six months we’ve started having detailed conversations with the owners, who are a very large global wine company,” explained Adrian Curry, Encirc’s Chief Executive.

“They built it for their own purposes, and we approached them and said, ‘Listen – it’s much better if you were to sell to us. We’ll do a long-term agreement with you so there is no risk, and then we can invest in the plant in Bristol and put in more capability, more capacity and we can grow the offering.’

“It takes so much of the difficulty out. If you are a wine producer, you produce good wine and you market it and do deals with retailers. That’s what you want to do.

“That whole piece in the middle is where we come in, so it fits very nicely. We are very pleased with it.”

Many of the bottles produced in Derrylin make their way across to England and will play a vital role in making a success of the latest acquisition.

And Mr. Curry believes it also gives huge security to the plant with this deal: “The Derrylin plant is performing really well. We’ve invested £40 million over the past couple of years in it, and it is one of the best factories you’d get in the world.

“The business plan for the plant back in 1998 was never to manufacture wine bottles, because as we all know there’s not much wine around in Ireland and even the UK, but I was in the plant last week and seven out of the eight production lines are making wine bottles. I think that’s just extraordinary!

“So a lot of the production from the plant in Derrylin goes over to England to be filled in our Elton plant over there, or indeed the new plant over in Bristol.

“What it does do is it gives huge security. Our investment cycles are about every 10-13 years, so we have just finished last year’s investment cycle in Derrylin. The plants are well invested for 10 years, even more, but it just secures the jobs in the area.

“Our order books are completely full and there is no risk to job security, and with the purchase of The Park, it means that we are shortening supply chains and we are really bringing a decarbonised element to it as well.”

Decarbonisation is a key focus for Encirc as they move forward, and one of the ways they will look at this in Derrylin is through biomethane.

With the recent challenges around energy price increases and their impact on profitability, Adrian sees the agricultural landscape of Fermanagh helping Encirc as they expect to produce four billion bottles next year.

“It is incumbent on all industries and consumers to consume less and consume in the right way to shorten supply chains.

“Then it’s up to industry like us where we are getting returns to invest those in decarbonisation products and things like that, and ultimately you move away from fossil fuels, which as we all know is the big challenge.

“We are looking at how we decarbonise the two plants, and we think that biomethane and anaerobic digestion in the network is probably a good opportunity in Derrylin.

“So you have to be able to take a 5-10 year view of these things, maybe to make the investments today to carry you through to the future,” concluded Mr. Curry.

Following the completion of the acquisition in January, 2023, the majority of employees engaged in manufacturing at The Park will transfer to Encirc.

For further information about Encirc, see www.encirc360.com.