Family firm Kays Medical secures £2.4m loan from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to support expansion that will create 30 jobs. Tony McDonough reports

Kays Medical has secured a £2.4m loan from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to support its expansion into logistics and create 30 jobs.

Now an occupational health and medical supplies company, Kays began life as a high street pharmacy in Liverpool in the 1970s. It still operates three pharmacies in the city under a separate division.

From the 1980s onwards it diversified into a specialist occupational health supplier covering medical products, equipment and pharmaceuticals. It now offers a catalogue of more than 10,000 products and services.

In 2022 Kays chief executive Ben Ludzker told LBN he was building a 33,000 sq ft warehouse next to its headquarters in Speke. Officially opened in February the facility is now operational.

It will offer third-party logistics services to other businesses that need to store and distribute products as quickly and efficiently as possible. The Combined Authority loan has supported this expansion.

Ben Ludzker said: “Our move to Speke in 2017 enabled us to significantly grow the business, to the extent that we needed even more space to expand our third party logistics operations.

“The finance from the Combined Authority has meant that we could create the additional space we needed while remaining on our existing site.

“Now that construction of the new facility is complete, we can put our ambitious growth plans for the business into action, creating jobs and prosperity for local people at the same time.

“Having this additional capacity is vitally important as we hope to benefit from increased trade associated with the new Liverpool City Region Freeport.”

The loan, from the £25m LCR Urban Development Fund, will be repaid in full and was not available from commercial lenders. This new investment will also safeguard five existing jobs at the business.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram added: “SMEs are the engine of our economy. They account for 99% of businesses in our area, and contribute millions of pounds of investment and generate thousands of jobs for local people.

“Every day, I see the value these businesses bring to our area, the opportunities they create for people – and the positive impact they have on the communities they operate in.

“That’s why I want to ensure that we’re helping to put them in the best position to succeed. We know that when local businesses are given the support they need to thrive, the rest of our economy flourishes too.