AN Ulverston couple are celebrating seeing their home business venture blossom into a burgeoning company with a £3m turnover target.

Despite having had to recover from a stroke, Glenn Doherty has thrown everything into the venture that he runs alongside his wife Julie.

Ulverston-based The Plastic Bottles Company has grown from a home-based eBay business to one that exports 20 per cent of its products and employs 12 people with further growth planned. It wholesales specialist plastic bottles to a wide range of sectors including hair and beauty, health, leisure, DIY and food.

Mr Doherty said: “The government is running a high profile marketing campaign, Exporting is Great, encouraging businesses to look at the opportunities exporting offers. As we have found, there are lots of markets to target and Cumbrian businesses can grow in this way.

“Our sales growth is the result of our focus on a very high quality, personal service, aiming to make life easier for our customers. That’s our unique selling point in a very competitive market.

"Our website is the main way customers find us. We make sure our products rank strongly on internet searches so we don’t need to invest in additional advertising to attract international customers.”

The business, established by the Dohertys in their spare time in 2006, started from small beginnings. Originally a home business trading on eBay, orders grew quickly until the couple decided to upscale their operations and give up their day jobs back in 2011.

Glenn previously worked as a deep sea diver, which saw him working around the world. Julie was an experienced retail manager including spells with Next and Etam. Both had also developed a portfolio of high quality properties for rent in the Ulverston area.

Even a stroke suffered by Glenn, from which he has made an excellent recovery, could not dampen the pair’s resolve to create a successful business that employed local people.

Exports now account for 19 per cent of its turnover, up from 14 per cent in the last financial year.

Today, Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock visited the company's base in Ulverston to officially open its expanded premises.

Mrs Doherty said: “We now employ 12 people including us and we plan to grow more in the coming years, hence expanding our premises. We see turnover exceeding £3m by 2020. Our new website coming soon will underpin the growth and make it even easier for customers to order the products they need online.

“We have just been awarded IS0 9001 in recognition of our Quality Management System for areas of the business including, facilities, people, training, services and equipment, so I am delighted that our local MP is joining us to officially open our expanded headquarters and help celebrate our success.”