Soap, cosmetics and cleaning product manufacturer Expac has acquired MPM Consumer Products in a pre-pack deal, saving 75 jobs.
Expac’s acquisition of the troubled business will add around £6m in sales to an already rapidly growing balance sheet, with Expac’s sales expected to grow 33% to £40m in 2026.
MPM had fallen into difficulty in late 2025, and entered administration on 30 January under care of Leonard Curtis’ Manchester office.
Expac, which supplies the likes of P&G and Unilever, took on MPM’s manufacturing site east of Manchester, complete with 24 filling lines and six blending vessels – adding 40% to Expac’s existing 100 million units of capacity.
“It’s a large site, but they had lost a lot of business,” explained Expac group chairman Graham Royle.
He added that the response from MPM’s customers had been “dramatically positive” after meeting with the company’s new ownership.
“We have a lot of growth coming into Expac, and needed more manufacturing capacity – and it has added to the range of things we can make, alongside the extra production lines.”
Expac has retained all of MPM’s staff, with hopes to revive the business under new ownership.
“While there really isn’t [enough] work for 75 people, I’ve taken them all on, and I will look after them and create work for them as we go forward,” Royle said.
The new site will be Expac’s third. It operates as part of Royle’s GRI Group, which supplies major bluechip companies with ingredient chemicals for their beauty, personal care and cleaning products, as well as manufacturing items under contract for these companies.
While GRI mostly makes branded products, MPM produced a mix of white label and branded goods.
GRI employs around 140 staff across the group, with Royle planning for further acquisitions in the category to funnel work into the former MPM factory.
“I’m on the acquisition trail,” he said. “What I’m particularly trying to find is more personal care, contract manufacturing and brands I can buy and take in-house into our existing facilities that will help me fill up Expac’s [new] facility.
“With our expanded sales team, we expect all three of our factories to become busier and busier in the coming years.”
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