£2m boost for booming Borders-based fibre insulation firm

Sustainable construction materials business IndiNature opened its manufacturing hub in Oxnam Road in Jedburgh last year, with the aim of growing its workforce to 30.

The 40,000 square feet building was established with the help of £3m of investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Now the production line is operational a follow-on investment of £2m has been secured from the bank.

The funding will be used to underpin a planned second stage of capital expenditure projects, including upgrades and additional production equipment to improve performance and manufacture insulation products.

Andy Clapp, executive director for investment portfolio management at the Scottish National Investment Bank, said: “We have seen IndiNature go from strength to strength since our initial investment in August 2021 and are delighted to continue to support them through this planned scale up.

“The work of this company continues to support the delivery of the bank’s missions in developing innovative solutions to drive the industry’s transition to net zero.”

The company has developed a natural fibre insulation system called IndiBreathe, using hemp grown in the UK, that can be fitted in both new and retrofit building projects.

IndiNature chief executive and co-founder Scott Simpson said: “We would like to thank all the local engineers and other contractors who have worked with our fantastic mill team and machine suppliers to establish production and secure this second phase of investment – a big milestone.

“We’re grateful to have an impact investor like the bank following on their original investment for the next stage of growth – an investor aligned with our mission to make positive impacts on scale for the climate and people’s health.

“More than ever we need to urgently insulate homes in the UK with appropriate materials – natural products like ours not only insulate, the materials they’re made from are also carbon negative.

“This investment is speeding up our ability to deliver healthy, low carbon products at high capacity to the market.”