Totally Wicked expands to meet global demand
The Portakabin Group has helped Totally Wicked to expand its facilities in Blackburn with the construction of the first purpose-designed fluid production and technical facility for electronic cigarettes to be built in the UK.
The scheme has increased Totally Wicked’s capacity to over 10 million bottles of premium quality e-liquid every year for the UK, USA and worldwide markets.Finished in anthracite grey with striking chilli red stripes to reflect Totally Wicked’s strong corporate image, the scheme accommodates a new production facility on the ground floor, complete with test room, fluid mixing area, bottling plant and a highly insulated cold room. New offices are located on the upper floor.
Commenting on the project, Stuart Mercer, operations director at Totally Wicked, said: “We needed this building to help us meet the growing demand for our products both in the UK and for export markets. It is a cutting edge facility for e-liquid production.“We are now ideally placed to take the business to the next level, increasing production in a very clean, modern environment. The finished building fits in really well with our corporate image.”
The facility was manufactured off site at the Portakabin factory in York to radically shorten the programme time and to reduce disruption to the local community and to the company’s existing operations on the Totally Wicked site in Blackburn.The use of off-site construction reduced the build time for the facility to just four months to give Totally Wicked the benefit of earlier occupation. This also allowed production capacity to be increased and facilitated the company’s expansion at an earlier stage.
Portakabin was principal contractor for the project and managed complex excavations on the challenging sloping site; construction of stone retaining walls; foundations, design, building installation and landscaping. Around 30 people now work from the new building to meet the growing demand for Totally Wicked’s e-liquid products.
