Glossop Cartons have made a donation to their local school, Padfield Community Primary School just in time for Christmas.

The school was chosen as part of Glossop Cartons community support programme.

Head teacher, Anne Harper explained

“We have had a library extension built this year and we intend to use most of the money on resources for the library including maintaining the library computer system and books. We are going to use the rest of the money to pay for the food and drinks for the children’s Christmas parties”.

Anne went on to say “Glossop Cartons regularly provide card to school which we use for making props for the Nativity and party hats”

Vicky Every from Glossop Cartons said. “We are delighted to support the school and to be able to provide books for the children to enjoy. I’m also pleased that our cardboard is being “recycled” for the enjoyment of the children”

Established in 1982 and based in Padfield, Glossop Cartons is now one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of carton board packaging products for blue-chip organisations across the UK. Producing quality litho printed cartons, wallets, blister cards, skin pack cards and packaging, the family owned and run firm employs around 50 people locally.

Glossop Cartons, the UK’s leading manufacturer of carton board products based in Padfield, continues to buck recent economic trends by investing heavily in some new machinery to cope with demand.

Glossop Cartons director, Jacky Sidebottom said, “We are constantly looking at new equipment to see what it can bring to our business. The delivery of a new Bobst Visioncut 106 LE die-cutter will help us be more efficient and also give us the extra capacity we need for our future acquisition plans.”

Delivery of the twenty ton machine was always going to be a challenge as the plant is based on a steep narrow road in Padfield. Jacky said “We wanted to take advantage of a planned road closure so that we didn’t stop the traffic. It wasn’t easy but the suppliers at Visioncut managed a rapid turnaround on delivery and the machine was installed with the minimum of disruption.”

Now employing around 50 people locally, this is great news for the local economy and follows previous good news we reported from other local growing companies, Pressure Tech and TH Plastics in recent weeks.

Established in 1982 and based in Padfield, Glossop Cartons is now one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of carton board packaging products for blue-chip organisations across the UK. Producing quality litho printed cartons, wallets, blister cards, skin pack cards and packaging, the family owned and run firm employs around 50 people locally.

In achieving Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems 18001, we have gone beyond current legally required industry standards marking us out as one of just a few companies to be formally accredited for our health and safety systems.

Director, Jacky Sidebottom said: “We’re proud to have achieved the 18001 standard. Gaining the accreditation took considerable time, effort and investment on our part. By voluntarily signing up to this ongoing system of continual auditing we’re obliged to do far more than is required by law, and practiced by the majority of firms, to prove our commitment to health and safety. It clearly demonstrates to our staff and customers that we’re 100% committed to working to world-class standards, creating safe and efficient environments and processes. Practically, it has the potential to reduce the number of accidents and incidents and therefore staff absences but having good policies and procedures in place helps improve productivity too.”

Liz Cheetham from the British Print Industries Federation added: “We wish to congratulate Glossop Cartons on meeting the requirements of OHSAS 18001. Being accredited to the 18001 standard by an independent, third party certification body demonstrates the company’s commitment to implement, maintain and improve the way it manages its health and safety. It means the company can be more confident about meeting any legislative requirements and, in the longer-term, setting targets alongside ongoing assessment measures will ensure its practices continue to improve.”

Independent Consultant Richard Sheppard (from RJS Management Services) helped Glossop Cartons to identify the scope of its Health and Safety system and then lay out the procedures needed for it to meet the requirements of OHSAS 18001. The work was independently audited by UKAS accredited company ISOQAR and will be regularly reviewed so everyone can be confident records are being kept and good working practices are being adhered to.

After conducting a detailed analysis of our gluing department, we’ve made a significant investment, taking delivery of a new gluing/folding machine and integrated precision gluing system; upgrades which will help improve efficiency and reduce lead times. They’ll help us to provide current clients with an extended range of packaging as well as giving us the opportunity to expand our customer base further.

Our new Bobst Expertfold 110 A2 folder-gluer is a machine capable of folding and gluing a variety of packaging cartons up to 1100mm wide at incredible speeds of up to 450 metres per minute. Supplied with a Bobst HandyPack GT, the new machinery will also helps our end-of-line staff to pack finished cartons into transport containers more efficiently.

We’ve also invested in the very high specification WH Leary Array glue system which delivers precise gluing control regardless of machine speed or the complexity of application. The Array integrates seamlessly with the Expertfold and automatically produces management data which is fed directly into our intranet enabling us to improve monitoring and planning of production runs.

As well as helping to improve manufacturing efficiency immediately, because both purchases are modular in design, they can evolve with us as our business grows to satisfy increased market demand.

Company director Jacky Sidebottom explains: “We’ve taken a twin-track approach to growth – investing in both people and machinery. The Clowes take-over was an ideal opportunity to consolidate our position in the marketplace. New staff bring new skills, contacts and business leads which helps improve our economies of scale and purchasing power. Now with the Bobst folder-gluer and WH Leary system, and the improved productivity they’ll bring, we feel like we’re heading into the New Year in a stronger position than ever.”

What attracted us to Clowes? Aside from the fact that Clowes’s administration presented us with an ideal opportunity to further our growth strategy, there were a number of other factors that made the purchase of the business very attractive. The two businesses were similar in many respects meaning that synergies in terms of products and processes already existed.

We shared a number of customers so the opportunity to consolidate our position in the marketplace presented itself. The skilled staff have earned a reputation for quality, a key tenet of our approach, and the physical location of the firm was important too, based as it is just a few miles down the road from our head office.

The purchase will make an immediate impact on our bottom line but, more importantly, it provides us with a stronger foundation for the future. The greater economies of scale and improved purchasing power that come through sheer size; new staff, their additional skills and contacts, as well as more contracts and business leads will make a significant contribution to our development. The sale also underpins further our relationships with a number of clients for whom we have ensured continuity of supply.

This acquisition brings our staff numbers up to 58 in total. Thanks to the purchase of Clowes, based on current forecasts, our annual turnover will be in the region of £5 million.

Jacky Sidebottom commented “I’m delighted that we have been able to conclude the deal for Clowes so quickly, minimising the disruption to customers and the anxiety for all of the staff concerned. As a family owned business, people have always been important to us and we wanted to ensure that everyone was offered an appropriate role in the new entity. They were and, happily, they have all taken up their new challenges. Our sales ledger is strong and getting stronger as is our position within the industry. We’ve helped to rescue a number of jobs and to salvage a potentially difficult situation for a number of clients. That’s something we can all be proud of.”