Dry Ice Scotland is investing over £4 million in the development of a new production site near Dumfries. Just over £3m has been provided by Nash Business Capital, with the balance provided by a combination of grant funding and the company’s own resources.

Originally established in 2011 and now run by brothers and directors Richard and Ed Nimmons, Dry Ice Scotland Limited is a major UK dry ice and manufacturing company, supplying high-density dry ice pellets and slices to a range of sectors, including pharmaceutical and food distribution.

The firm will use the new facility for the capture, purification and liquefaction of food-grade, renewable CO2 and production of dry ice.

Dry ice has a wide variety of uses and applications, including airline catering, dry ice blasting, freeze-drying as well as sample/vaccine distribution within the pharma sector and storage and transportation.

In a boost to the UK’s current and longer-term CO2 challenges, employing a process which is carbon negative, the new production facility will take the waste CO2 by-product from a nearby plant to produce liquid CO2 that is compressed into dry ice pellets and slices. Production capacity is expected to reach appropriately 8,000 tonnes per annum with Dry Ice Scotland becoming one of the top three UK producers of dry ice.

Dry Ice Scotland currently employs seven people and plans to recruit up to eight more staff over the next three years.

Michael Currie (corporate partner) and Gemma Perfect (commercial property partner) from Aberdein Considine provided the company with legal support in relation to both the financing and property transaction.

Ed Nimmons said: “This project is a landmark in our long-term goal to decarbonise the dry ice industry by capturing and utilising local, renewable sources of food grade CO2.”

Richard Nimmons added: “This is a major step forward for the UK to be 100% reliable on domestic sources of food grade CO2 for dry ice manufacture, reducing transportation carbon footprint and insulating our customers from future CO2 shortages.”

Michael Currie, Aberdein Considine, commented: “Working with Ed and Richard has been a real pleasure, and it is hugely rewarding to be playing a part in the future of such an exciting and ambitious business.”

Sanjay Mahtani, Nash Business Capital, said: “We are delighted to be backing Ed, Richard and the Dry Ice Scotland team on this project and we look forward to working with them on growing their business further.”