Nutrivitality Ltd

Investment in a bespoke new facility to drive increased capacity, turnover and jobs whilst enabling additional research activity

Nutrivitality was born out of Derby based SureScreen Diagnostics, which was founded in 1996.  SureScreen provide high quality rapid diagnostic equipment and services to a variety of customers worldwide, primarily encompassing the broad themes of drug and health screening. This followed the creation of its sister-company SureScreen Scientifics in 1991, which provides wide-ranging laboratory services.

Following a family illness that led to questions about the effectiveness of supplements, Nutrivitality was established to help develop best in class nutrition for people around the world.  This was achieved through the creation of tasty and drinkable liquid vitamin supplements, including the use of technologies developed by the business using nano-sized structures called liposomes. These enable absorption of the supplement to increase from approximately 10% via traditional tablets to over 90% via Nutrivitality’s products.

Recognising the potential opportunity to scale-up Nutrivitality, SureScreen Diagnostics successfully applied for £67k funding from the University of Derby’s Invest to Grow Programme. This funding was critical for the business at the time to enable the investment needed to expand and meet customer’s increasing demand.  The funds were used to purchase new manufacturing equipment, enabling Nutrivitality products to be manufactured and commercialised on a much larger scale to satisfy this demand. This led to a rapid increase in sales and customers, and the direct creation of 18.5 jobs. Through associated research activity it has also enabled the creation of further products.  

Why engage with Invest to Grow?

Following the success of its first Invest to Grow project, Nutrivitaility continued to experience organic growth. However, space and capacity constraints within the existing facilities stifled the potential for further growth. The existing facility needed additional work to reach pharma grade manufacture, which was a key for future success. 

SureScreen therefore identified the need to develop a new bespoke facility, and subsequently purchased a site at Eagle Park in Derby. To enable the immediate fit-out of the new facility, including the purchase of additional specialist equipment, the business approached the University of Derby and successfully obtained funding of £180k from Invest to Grow.

What has been the impact of Invest to Grow?

The creation of the bespoke facility, supported by Invest to Grow, has led to significant growth for the business as a result of increased capacity and the ability to deliver an end-to-end process from product concept to design, manufacture and sales. Director David Campbell commented:

“The impact has been enormous. The significant growth we have recently achieved would not have been possible without the new facility and the support from Invest to Grow, who have been incredibly supportive. Our growth would have been a lot slower and we would not have been able to create as many jobs without their help.”

The new facility has enabled Nutrivitality to access a much larger customer base, which has led to a significant increase in both turnover and jobs. David Campbell commented: “In the two-year period since the completion of the Invest to Grow project we have added 19 people to the Nutrivitality team. Furthermore, our turnover also grew over 50% between 2021 and 2022 and is forecast higher growth this year.”

Two bottles of Nutrivitality Vitamins on water

A contributing factor towards this growth has been the ability, as a result of the new pharma grade facility, to obtain British Retail Consortium accreditation which allows the company to manufacture directly for retail. A further impact of the new facility has been a major increase in productivity. David Campbell commented:

“We believe increasing productivity is very important for the UK in general, and it is something we are constantly striving to achieve. The new facility, as a result of its increased levels of automation and increase in highly skilled colleagues, has significantly improved our productivity. This has enabled us to remain competitive through the challenging economic climate, and has also helped us target our energy efficiency.”

 The new facility also includes a research laboratory, which has provided further positive impacts for Nutrivitality and the wider SureScreen business by enabling increased research activity, including enhanced links with the University of Derby. David Campbell commented:

“We have a very good collaborative relationship with the University of Derby, who have always been very supportive of the business. We have worked on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and have joint research projects in nutrition and DNA testing ongoing. We’ve also recruited many people from the University with the help of its careers department.”

The additional research opportunities have led to the development of further new products and formulas, which has led to a significant increase in the business’ exports.

The company’s new Eagle Park site also supported the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby SureScreen Diagnostics was able to utilise a section of the facility to manufacture Covid-19 antibody and antigen testing kits. These were among the first kits to market and were exported to around 60 countries worldwide, as well as being supplied to the UK government. The success of this activity has subsequently led to SureScreen Diagnostics investing in a new manufacturing facility, increasing jobs further in the region.