Bristol-based Ecoegg, an award-winning designer of eco-friendly laundry products, has created nine jobs and is exporting to more than 30 countries worldwide after bringing its production back from China.
Having developed its innovative Dryer Egg, the latest in its range of eco- and skin-friendly products, firm was keen to secure funding to enable it to be manufactured in the UK. 
It secured a grant from SWMAS through the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) programme and the Product Development Centre (PDC) which meant it could design and development a new injection moulding tool to make the Dryer Egg in the UK rather than in China where it had been previously been produced.
MAS provided advice and funding to secure patent registration for the product – the latest example of 'reshoring' by a UK company bringing its manufacturing back from China to the UK.
Ecoegg is now exporting to over 30 countries worldwide including Italy, Germany, Brazil and Australia. The company has also just started to break into the US market and has come full circle in that it now sells the product in China.
The firm was launched by Bristol-based former BBC art director Dawn White, pictured, with friend Rob Knight. Dawn has suffered from eczema for most of her life and wanted to design a product that would clean clothes in a way that was sensitive to eczema suffers’ skin. The business also has a base in Kent. 
She said: “Being able to bring our production back to the UK has so many advantages. From a quality control perspective, we are able to see the product being manufactured and meet our suppliers face-to-face with no language barriers to overcome. It has also turned out to be at least as equally cost effective because the price of transportation from China is growing rapidly.
“We have also been able to create three full-time jobs and six part-time jobs including ongoing work for a warehouse manager, as we now rent our own warehouse in the UK, a logistics manager and our own team of packers.
“A further five jobs have been created indirectly with our UK suppliers and all of these new positions are likely to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds moving forward. We have also paid manufacturers in the UK over £30,000 for the design and manufacture of the new plastic injection tool.
“The support received has been fantastic and the MAS and PDC team are brilliant to work with. We are now working on another project and they are helping us in our attempts to link up with some university expertise as we look to develop a new dishwasher product.”
This rapid growth has enabled Ecoegg to expand its operations and open a new warehouse to hold stock. The company is on track to hit sales of £1.5m by the end of its next financial year.
The grant for the new injection moulding tool came through the PDC project, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (2007-2013) Competitiveness Programme.
