The director an Andover business whose factory expansion plan was cancelled by its parent company has said business is booming despite Brexit.

As previously reported, Henrik Follmann, the director of Follmann Chemie, which owns Andover firm Sealock, said that Brexit has been 'catastrophic' for his business, and that a planned £2.5 million expansion of Sealock's site had been cancelled as a result.

Despite these comments, Sealock director Chris Young said his firm was doing well, with exports a tiny fraction of their overall business.

“Our business is around 96 per cent to the UK market. We are the UK’s number one adhesives manufacturer and we are a British success story.

“We started in Andover 38 years ago so we are truly a local company,” he told the Advertiser.  

Sealock was founded by Mr Young’s father, John, in 1983 and grew from a small unit in West Portway to a purpose-built factory at Walworth Industrial Estate, which opened 18 years ago.

Today, the firm employs 16 people and they have just recruited a new member of staff. 

And the 57-year-old managing director estimates that the public will come into contact with at least one product using Sealock’s adhesive during the course of the week.

Their glue is used in a variety of different ways, helping to bind paper shopping bags used in Marks & Spencer or to wrap loaves of bread for Warburtons. 
It is also used to stick together packaging for Amazon. 

“My kids call me a glue bore,” he said. “But whenever I am in the supermarket, I can’t help pointing out which products are using glue made here in little old Andover.”

Mr Young, who has lived in the town now for “most of my adult life”, said the original story in the Financial Times didn’t tell the full picture of a successful year in business. 

“We have a well-established team of 16 people, the vast majority of whom have worked for us for ten plus years. We have a good workforce of local people,” he said.

Reflecting on the last year, Mr Young said the company has never been busier. 

“We worked all the way through the pandemic because we were classified as an essential business. We have grown thanks to the goodwill of our staff who were working around the clock to keep up with the demand,” the 57-year-old managing director said.