The specialist toy slime manufacturer has upsized its operations in South Yorkshire with a move to larger premises in Barnsley, with plans to increase its workforce by two thirds.

Novelty sensory putty manufacturer Slime Party UK has taken 14,291 sq ft of industrial and warehousing space at Unit 19 Redbrook Business Park in Barnsley and will expand its staff with 10 new roles this summer.

The expanding business had outgrown its existing unit on Industry Road in Carlton, Barnsley, and is now using its new base to manufacture and distribute its range of 16 collectible sensory putty products.

Slime Party UK was started in the town in 2018 by Ruby Sheldon, and has since manufactured more than 800,000 pots of putty to customers worldwide.

Ruby said: “I set up Slime Party UK after the slime craze hit the UK in 2017 and my kids were trying to make it themselves. I devised a special compound for our products which means there’s all the fun of slime, without the mess. Since then, our business has grown. In 2022 there were just three staff, now its 16, and the move will bring 10 new jobs later this summer. Our former unit had become too small and this new base offers racking space, the offices we need, accommodates further recruitment plans and allows easy access for distribution.”

Slime Party UK supplies toy shops and stores across the world with the most distant clients being 13 toy megastores in Lebanon.

Councillor Robin Franklin, cabinet spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture at Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “This is a fantastic story of a local entrepreneur finding success on an international scale with a unique product that children around the world have enjoyed hours of fun with.”

The mayor of Barnsley will officially open the new Slime Party UK base in April.