Ebble Group was started by Chris Howey after working in the surface treatment industry for a number of years. His education in Chemistry followed by working in engineering for many industries in the UK lead to the unique approach we have as a business group.
Our focus has been to bring a complete solution to customers we work with by not just looking at the standard machines and solutions we have available, but really looking at the problem at hand and using our skills to gain a deeper understanding which allows us to make sure the service or system we supply is the right tool for the job.
Alongside Chris and his science and engineering background, our team have specialties in printing, coating, manufacturing and machine building which allows us to work on projects from initial concepts and theory discussion through to engaging in complex machine design, building and delivery.
You can read more on the team on their own pages on the Ebble Tantec Team page.
With a strong customer base in UK manufacturing, the history of Ebble Group and Chris has been to supply surface treatment systems which have generally been used for improving adhesion and material performance. These material changes and improvements are generally for performance of adhesives, inks, coatings or tapes.
For some customers the benefit of using the technology is for cleaning materials, sterilising materials or generally preparing them to a known and consistent quality standard.
Importantly, whatever the end requirement is, the solutions we supply are sustainable and require very little if any chemicals or consumables. Always making them a green and cost effective manufacturing method and often being a replacement for older technologies such as flame treatment or chemical etching which both have obvious environmental impacts.
This core requirement of improving materials with modern efficient and environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques is what guides us in the products and services we offer and the suppliers that we work with.
Our group of companies have two key sides:
The core technology manufactured and understood by Ebble Group and Tantec is around high voltage discharge – specifically Plasma Treatment, Corona Treatment, Ozone Treatment and Leak Detection using high voltage.
Supporting these treatments and quality test systems are technologies that ca measure surface qualities such as Surface Energy and Adhesion Testing.
You can read more on our technology on the Technology Page.
The history of Corona and Plasma dates back well before Ebble Group, it was invented in Denmark in the 1950s and initially used for flat materials such as webs and films. Our Danish factory began manufacturing in 1974 with a focus not only on flat thin materials, but also 3D components.
This distinction has seen the technology manufactured by Tantec move in to a wide variety of industries with those in medical device manufacturing and automotive often being big users, alongside the more traditional blown film and extrusion treatment that falls under the flat treatment side of things.
Chris Howey began working closely with the Danish factory in 2011 and started Ebble Group and Tantec-UK Ltd in 2018 to give further dedication and support to the UK and Irish markets. Having dealt with customers between 2011 and 2018, with colleagues supplying equipment further back than this, there was an existing customer base and range of systems already in use.
That being said, the journey of Ebble Group, like many new ventures began life simply in a spare bedroom, spilling out on to the dining table, officially starting on November 1st 2018.
Working with existing Tantec equipment users and customers meant that we moved into our first premises in the first quarter of 2019 which was also when we began hiring for our first team members.
From here the business grew quickly and several new team members began, with two additions starting at the very beginning of 2020, just ahead of the Covid Pandemic.
This did not stop the business from developing, doubling premises size in 2020 and then moving to a new facility in 2023 that is 4.5x larger than before.
With the group developing through the 2020s and the business expanding to fill the new factory, the team and the support and products we offer continues to expand.
Our focus is on supporting our customers and creating relationships that offer true value to customers so that they can grow themselves. We have seen a number of customers come to us with new and novel ideas that have started with a handful of samples that have now moved on to full scale production, and we’ve seen first time users of the equipment come back to install plasma and corona on multiple lines through their factories.
It’s brilliant to see and it’s rewarding to be part of the journey with those people.
We currently have capacity to grow substantially and with every new challenge that comes through our doors we aim to add new skills and processes to strengthen our business and what we can do to help businesses around the UK and Ireland.
As we look to the future there are several new processes and machines we anticipate installing, new team members we’ll be bringing in and plans for expansion and further buildings to give us the space we need to grow.
Thank you for your interest in the Ebble Group – we’re proud to be a UK company supplying in to some of the UK and Irelands top companies. Our impact in helping those companies and their customers gives us a purpose and a rewarding reason to keep going.
