The main trends that were highlighted at this year’s exhibition were centred round skin luminosity and radiance. There was also a big focus on sun care this year, with a whole area dedicated to sun protection and sun damage skin analysis.

From the trends we are seeing for spring/summer 2012, the ‘radiance’ trend remains of great importance, with many big skin care brands also focusing on collagen boosting and vitamin enriching formulas. In hair care there is a trend towards lightweight formulas that are still enriching and repairing and give luminous shine, but leave hair feeling feather light in texture.

UPL has an award winning new product development team, so if you would like to talk to us about your product development ideas, whether it is a new concept, a line extension or an enhancement for an existing range, we would be happy to discuss your requirements with you.

UPL has now gained the official stamp of approval on their recent planning application that will almost double the size of the existing factory and warehouse. This approval will enable UPL to further expand their successful contract manufacturing business by adding a new product development and innovation centre to their current purpose built site.

UPL can now proceed with their plans for:

A new on site Distribution Centre, and

An extension to the main building that will have two distinct areas:-

• Additional Warehousing
• An Innovation Centre that would include NPD labs and ‘real life’ product testing areas (salon, spa, shave areas etc.)

UPL’s Managing Director Mike Peters said “Manufacturing is vital for the future for the UK economy – Britain needs a manufacturing industry. We need to give people the choice to buy British and also to create additional employment opportunities here, and our expansion plans will help to provide these opportunities.”

To see more details of the approved site development plans please click on the link > UPL new site development plans

UPL took a stand at the recent Making Cosmetics Exhibition held at the National Motorbike Museum on March 28th and 29th and we were delighted with the level of interest that this new exhibition generated.

The first day saw over 450 visitors and the second day achieved a further 250 attendees. This is a great achievement for a completely new exhibition and shows what an exciting industry we work in.

We were very proud that many existing and potential customers remarked on the quality and impact of the UPL stand, and on our welcoming style and professionalism. Our special gift bags containing samples of new bath, hair and skincare products were also considered to be a valued gift from UPL.

All in all it’s been a very rewarding, successful and enjoyable few days and a great first for UPL.

This was the 45th Cosmoprof  & it is regarded as the most important show in the industry’s calendar. However this year the attendance appeared to be down & there was a general feeling being that the numbers of UK visitors / exhibitors were less than normal, probably because of the economic climate & the high costs involved.

UPL firmly believes that attending such exhibitions is critical to enable us to remain at the forefront of what’s new & exciting within the industry and to maintain our level of packaging development expertise.

If you would like to discuss any of your packaging development requirements with UPL please do not hesitate to contact us.

The new EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 came into force on the 11th January 2010 and replaces the current directive, the majority of changes come into force from the 11th July 2013.

Joanne Senior and Amanda Booth attended the CTPA seminar held on the 1st and 2nd of March which gave helpful guidance on understanding the requirements and implementation of the new regulation.

The changes to the Regulation have made some significant changes to a number of areas including:

• Roles and responsibilities
• Introduction of an electronic notification system for all products
• Claims
• Nanomaterials
• Reporting of Serious adverse effects
• PIF
• Safety assessment
• CMR’s

We are putting together a presentation summarising the changes and some of the practical aspects of compliance and will be able to brief UPL staff and customers who would like some assistance from April onwards. If you would like more information then please contact either joanne@uplm.co.uk or amanda@uplm.co.uk.

UPL has taken a stand at the forthcoming Making Cosmetics Exhibition to be held on March 28th and 29th at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. We will be on stand number 230 and look forward to welcoming you there, because Making Cosmetics is an exhibition that sums up exactly what UPL offers - the total package from concept to consumer.

To get your free invitation to this event please click on the link below >

http://www.universal-laboratories.co.uk/docs/Invitation-Making-Cosmetics-Exhibition.pdf

Making Cosmetics is a new exhibition that has been specially developed to meet the needs of anyone in the personal care market looking for products, services or equipment that:

• Develop products that are fit for purpose, stable and compliant
• Increase efficiencies, enhance productivity, save costs, cut the time to market
• Design, manufacture and market products in a controlled, safe and audited manner
• Enhance product performance, application or appeal
• Meet the demands of a legislative and regulatory framework that affects every part of the manufacturing and supply chain.

From Concept to Consumer:

We know that Consumers demand personal care products that enhance their appearance and personal sense of well-being but that are also safe
to use. UPL is proud to have a reputation for safe, effective and innovative products that meet the requirements of ever demanding consumers.

At the same time, personal care products are subject to a legislative and regulatory environment that affects every part of the manufacturing and supply chain, so we are delighted that our Technical Director Tony Mayhall has been asked to give a presentation as part of the Hygiene in Personal Care Product Manufacturing Seminar on March 28th.

Making Cosmetics is free for visitors to attend – including all the seminars – but your entry will be faster if you pre-register for the event.

To get your free invitation to this event please click on the following link>

http://www.universal-laboratories.co.uk/docs/Invitation-Making-Cosmetics-Exhibition.pdf

Our new meeting room has been furnished with comfortable armchairs and a coffee table as opposed to the traditional furnishing of a large meeting table and upright chairs. This has proven to be an extremely effective alternative to the formal meeting environment.

We have decided to name the meeting room The Lomas Lounge in memory of a very valued colleague – Paul Lomas – who sadly and suddenly passed away 7 years ago. This is one way we can honour and remember an ex colleague who was liked and loved by everyone who worked with him. For those of you who did not have the pleasure of knowing Paul, he was a big man with a big character, a big smile and a true gentleman.

Chris Rotheram has joined the management team as QA Manager and he is also a Qualified Person which further strengthens our QP coverage for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products.

Chris joined us directly from Lofthouse of Fleetwood Ltd (Manufacturers of Fisherman’s Friend). He joined them back in 1977 as a 16 year old Lab Assistant in their QC Lab. After many years of part time study he achieved Chartered Chemist status and in 1998 he became eligible to act as a Qualified Person. Throughout his time with Lofthouse he undertook several roles in QC, QA and IT.

At UPL his role is that of QA Manager / Qualified Person, but on the personal front he is a ‘local lad’ – born in Fleetwood and lived in Cleveleys all his life. Chris is married to a District Nurse and they recently celebrated their silver wedding. Both their son and daughter are studying at university.

We are delighted to welcome Chris to the UPL team and wish him every success in his new role.

We also rewarded the 16% of employees who had 2 years or more continuous attendance with an extra days holiday to acknowledge their commitment and hard work. Congratulations and thank you to you all for your 100% commitment.

The last ‘Lost Time Accident’ took place over 600 days ago and that is great news for the company as it means we remain as one of the safest manufacturing companies within the North West.

Thanks to everyone for staying safe, there is still a lot of work to do to ensure we keep improving, but this figure reflects the hard work by everyone at UPL to reduce our accident & incident rates.