LOCAL MP Rebecca Pow is delighted to see long-established Wellington firm Swallowfield go from strength to strength.

Swallowfield first started in Wellington nearly 150 years ago and has become a leading developer and manufacturer of high quality per- sonal care products with particular expertise in aerosols, colour cosmetics and skincare.

Ms Pow, MP for Taunton Deane, visited the Swallow- field premises where it employs more than 300 people and has recently bought the men’s grooming brand Fish which provides gent’s hair styling products to the likes of Boots, Superdrug, Tesco and Waitrose.

“It’s great to see this large local employer growing from strength to strength and employing so many local people,” she said.

“I was interested to hear about how they have phased out micro-beads in the prod- ucts they produce and how they are looking at ways to reduce packaging and make products biodegradable.”

The company was estab- lished by award-winning chemist, Walter Gregory, and began as a simple pharmacy, but quickly developed into a pioneering manufacturer to eventually filling the first commercial aerosols in 1950.

Since then the company has continued to innovate by regularly investing in new technology, groundbreaking packaging formats and a world-class manufacturing infrastructure that today develops around 2,000 new products each year.