A NEW tea company has set up in Merseyside and intends to take on the UK's leading brands.
Lancashire Tea will begin operating from a factory in Newton-le-Willows with eight staff, thanks to a £250,000 cash injection.
The money has come from Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF), which gave £100,000, Natwest, Lombard and investment from its directors.
Managing director Paul Needham was formerly operations director at Knowsley-based tea blenders Gold Crown Foods, before the entire factory was destroyed in a fire last year.
After the blaze the company ceased trading and Paul Needham, alongside the former financial controller at Gold Crown, Lynn Hitchen, decided to pool their expertise and launch Lancashire Tea.
From the new premises the tea is blended, packaged and distributed. The production facilities mean the company has the capacity to produce over 2,000 tea bags per minute - over 2m cups of tea a day.
Management makes no secret of the fact that it is competing head on with Yorkshire Tea and other leading brands but say they are confident the taste and texture of Lancashire Tea will win over customers throughout the UK.
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