Expect Golden Age for UK Manufacturing, Says Packaging MD
News release
26th October 2012
The MD of a leading UK packaging firm is predicting a bright future for UK manufacturing after his company invested £500,000 in a new production line at its Lincolnshire factory.
Mark Spivey, MD at Forum Packaging in Horncastle, said British manufacturing stands “on the cusp of a golden age” and pointed to a £1m investment in his company’s first year of trading as evidence of renewed confidence in the sector.
“We’re very pleased with our first year of trading, which has vastly exceeded our expectations,” said Mark. “Annual turnover is up, and our customers and suppliers have been very supportive, which has made for a very successful first year.
“Because we’ve done so well we’ve been able to invest £500,000 in this new production line after only one year of trading.”
He added: “There’s a renaissance ahead for British manufacturing – we’re on the cusp of a golden age. We just need the Government to reduce red tape and help small firms find opportunities to export.”
Forum Packaging was created last year after Mark Spivey and Finance Director Rob Massey completed a management buy-out of the business from D S Smith plc.
Last week the firm installed a new line which features a state-of-the-art Garant Triumph T2B Servo machine which will produce paper flour bags for the retail market.
Codeology and AP Machinery were commissioned to provide a complete end-of-line carton filling, taping, labelling and collating solution to handle the high output from the new machine.
“We’re already renowned for high-quality print,” said Mark. “Couple this printing capability with a high-quality conversion machine such as the T2B and you have a fantastic offering for the blue chip customers we deal with.
“We have strengthened this offering further by incorporating full metal detection into the production line. This really is a market-leading production facility.
“The Garant T2B from Germany is the best machine on the market – the Rolls-Royce of packaging machinery. We wanted to enter the market confident that we could offer excellent service with a reliable machine which delivers a top-notch product.”
The flour bags or Minipak, as Forum have named it, will be used for flour and prepared flour mixes for biscuits and pizzas and sold across all the major UK supermarkets in sizes ranging from 0.5kg up to 3.0kg, printed in up to eight colours. Forum Packaging is also looking for European export opportunites.
The company is currently running commissioning trials and expects to start commercial production in November.
“People are definitely looking at their purchasing policies and buying from within the UK, which is good news both for us and for British manufacturing,” Mark added. “It’s a really positive sign that the UK food sector wants to support British manufacturing.”
Notes to editors
- Forum Packaging Ltd is based on Mareham Road in Horncastle, Lincolnshire and can be contacted on 01507 523434.
- For more information visit www.forumpackaging.com
Jez Ashberry
Shooting Star PR
01522 528540
jez@shootingstar-pr.co.uk
www.shootingstar-pr.co.uk
t: @jezashberry
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