On the evening of Saturday, 12 July 2025, a fire occurred at our Stoelzle Flaconnage production facility in Knottingley, West Yorkshire. Emergency services responded swiftly, with twelve fire crews on site. We are immensely grateful to the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for their outstanding effort and professionalism.

Thanks to their quick response and the on-site team’s composure, all employees were safely evacuated. No one was seriously harmed, though a few individuals were treated for mild smoke inhalation and have since returned home.

The cause of the incident is currently under investigation, and we are fully cooperating with the relevant authorities.
(NB The furnace was built in 2016 and provides approx. 175 tons of extra-white flint glass per day which results in a production of 110 million glass containers per annum. Some of the production lines were additionally equipped to manufacture feeder coloured glass.)

Ensuring uninterrupted service to our customers is our highest priority. We have activated our Business Continuity Plan and are reallocating production to our sister facilities across Europe.

We are all hands on deck. Our teams across the Stoelzle Glass Group are working together to restore operations in Knottingley as soon as possible. While the full impact is still being assessed, we remain confident that we will come back soon and even stronger.