Chinese firm Sunhope secures western promise in Scotland
Last updated: November 2024
Chinese company, Sunhope Packaging Machinery, invested £1.5 million in its new site in Scotland. And now its new European hub here will be the ideal location to better serve its markets on the continent and in North America.
From Zhenjiang City to Scotland: Sunhope’s new European hub
Sound business sense and territory familiarity were the deciding factors for Sunhope to set up its European operation in Scotland, 5481 miles away from its base in China.
Headquartered in Zhenjiang City, the firm has been manufacturing machinery for the packaging industry for more than 30 years. More recently, the company realised it needed to serve its European and North American markets with greater production and service capabilities.
But choosing the ideal location had to be strategic. Sunhope had to better support its western customers, and satisfy increasing global demand for a return to paper bags. New machinery and a support centre were crucial for the manufacturer to satisfy its expanding customer base.
The company chose to refurbish an existing site in Glenrothes, Fife, because it was home to one of its customers. This would enable Sunhope to understand the local and UK commercial environment, and to benefit from Fife's well-connected business community. Being located close to Edinburgh Airport, customers in the west would also benefit from easier access to its business and products.
Sunhope was approached by existing customers in France, the Netherlands and Belgium to set up a premises in their factories, but the manufacturer wanted to have the autonomy to operate from its own customised site.
Andy Lindsay, Managing Director of the company’s UK division, was charged with the challenge of finding where to lay down roots in Europe.
So why invest in Scotland? He explains:
Andy Lindsay (far right), Managing Director of Sunhope UK.
Manufacturing excellence in Scotland
Andy believes that Scotland and the wider UK have a solid reputation for manufacturing niche machinery. In Scotland, manufacturing contributed £16.8 billion in Gross Value Add (GVA) to its economy in 2022, according to the Quarterly National Accounts for Scotland.
To help find new premises and evaluate Scotland as an investment location, Sunhope contacted Scottish Enterprise. In Andy’s words, he was pleasantly surprised to discover the broader level of support it could provide. This included help from our team here at Scottish Development International (SDI) and Team Scotland partners, InvestFife and Business Gateway Fife. Initial support from these led Sunhope to identify and acquire the 1000 square metre site at Southfield Industrial Estate in Glenrothes.
Among its many services, InvestFife provides support and advice for both overseas investors, and for new and growing businesses in the area.
On the strength of this Team Scotland partner approach, Sunhope's investment in Scotland has marked the start of an exciting new commercial chapter.
A modern facility for global customers
The Glenrothes site has undergone a full refurbishment and will eventually serve as a modern facility and demonstration hub, showcasing Sunhope machines to potential customers from the UK, Europe, North America and beyond. It will also be used as a training facility, offering comprehensive training packages for customers’ personnel.
Andy believes that Sunhope’s strategic location in central Scotland, with accessible transport links, has made its European headquarters accessible for its planned new training centre. He says he was impressed by the help and support from InvestFife, Scottish Enterprise and SDI. This met Sunhope’s commitment to achieve a business-friendly environment and to facilitate its growth to attract and serve new customers.
A smooth expansion from the other side of the world
So, what was the process like for the company to branch out from China?
Andy added: “Scottish Enterprise, its partners and a bank made the process easier. The bank helped us with aspects such as opening a new business bank account. The process took quite a while – but it was important to get right by complying with the various checks and legislation.”
With partner support, Sunhope is ambitious to become a green business, having secured Net Zero Grant Funding and business advice from Business Gateway Fife and Scottish Enterprise.
Partners included InvestFife, Business Gateway Fife and Scottish Enterprise.
Homegrown talent for global expansion
Sunhope's vison to scale growth and innovation from Scotland in Europe wouldn't be possible without having access to excellent talent. This has proved essential to resource the business’s broad role profile from technicians to office support personnel.
With the site modernisation now complete, Sunhope expects its first machine to become operational in early 2025, producing around 400,000 paper bags each week, which will be further resourced by additional machines later next year. Once the facility is fully functional, the team will play a crucial role in carrying out installations and servicing, and will provide training locally and globally. Sunhope will then be able to offer more comprehensive support to customers worldwide.
Andy explains: “We will gradually increase our headcount to 30 people to work in shift cycles as more machines come on stream. I am confident in finding talent locally who we can train to a really good level. We will also engage with local training providers such as Fife College to provide apprenticeship programmes. This may include those accredited to SVQs to achieve a longer term talent pool.”
Scotland: a magnet for investment
On the strength of its skilled workforce and supportive business environment, Scotland continues to attract ambitious international companies like Sunhope Packaging Machinery that have bold business ambitions to expand and thrive globally.
He sums up: “We have modernised our European base to a very high standard. We want it to be as professional as possible so that our international customers have the confidence in us to potentially invest millions in our machinery.”
“Scotland is a prime platform for us to serve our customers even better in Europe, North America and other exciting new territories across the world.”
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