Littleborough company invents reusable plastic beer keg

Matt Adams, group operations manager, Jim Kelly, MD, Councillor Richard Farnell and Carol Hopkins, RDA

Plastic Keg Company Ltd is in talks with big name breweries after securing an international patent for its new plastic beer keg.

The company, based at Greenvale Business Park, Littleborough, is part of the Alliance Group, and has come up with the new product which is lighter than the traditional steel barrel and costs over 50% less.

Managing Director Jim Kelly said: "We are in talks with some really well known breweries who are really enthusiastic about the product.

"The demand is such that once we launch it onto the market I think we could create 40 highly skilled local jobs in the first year alone."

Mr Kelly was helped by the council’s executive boardroom, which sees company directors from small to medium businesses across the borough get together four times a year for peer group sessions led by a business growth expert.

He said: "The executive boardroom really helped me. I don’t think I'd have got as far with this idea had I not had that support."

As well as being reusable, the plastic keg has no theft value, making it an attractive prospect at a time when metal theft is estimated to be costing the UK economy £1bn a year.