A SKIPTON-based healthcare solutions manufacturer has upgraded its production lines with a multimillion-pound funding package from HSBC UK to allow ostomy patients, such as those with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, to lead much more comfortable lives.

Trio Healthcare, acquired by Cheshire-based specialist healthcare investor Impel Healthcare Catalysts in 2019, has used part of the funding to purchase a UK-made novel production line incorporating the company’s patent-protected processes. The new equipment is crucial for the business’s plan to commercialise and manufacture a revolutionary new ostomy product for the worldwide market to be launched this year.

The team behind Impel were the driving force behind another UK healthcare success story, Crawford Healthcare, which was sold to US giants Acelity in 2018. Trio Healthcare expects to see the business create highly skilled jobs at its Skipton site and increase turnover several-fold over the next couple of years.

CEO Lloyd Pearce said: “The investment and partnership with Impel in 2019 was the most important event in Trio’s history since I founded the business in 2006.

“I am genuinely excited by the future and the difference we are making to the lives of ostomates, and thrilled to have HSBC UK with us for the journey.”

Richard Anderson, Co-founder of Impel Healthcare Catalysts, added: “We have a long-standing relationship with HSBC UK from our time running Crawford Healthcare. We always found the bank bought-into everything we sought to achieve and was highly supportive of us as a management team. As a result, I was delighted to offer it the opportunity to work with us again at Trio and I believe its involvement endorses what we are seeking to achieve with the business.”

Trio Healthcare works from its sites in Skipton and Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. The business employs 22 and has been recognised for its contribution to technology and innovation after winning two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.