The adoption of a strategic approach to business development, coupled with a growing appetite in the UK for re-shoring, has led to promising indicators for our business.
We have secured a number of new contracts, added new staff to our business development team and seen one of our second-year apprentices pick up a prestigious award.
On the new business front, we are now working on behalf of SmartWater Technology Ltd, a leading UK-based international crime fighting company best known for its diverse range of forensic products, which provide traceability to items of value and link criminals with individual crime scenes.
Appointed by SmartWater because of our ability to substantially reduce the supply pipeline and offer a stock holding option, we were initially awarded an order to produce 50K packs with applicators, used to apply a specialist security marking system. We expect that further quantities will be called off later in 2014.
Venturing into the e-cigarette market, we were awarded a three-year contract to supply bottles, caps and dropper plugs to new customer, The E-Liquid Company (NW) Ltd. Throughout the duration of the contract we expect to manufacture over a million packs per year. As this sector is growing exponentially, we are confident that further work will be secured.
Taking all into consideration, with a mid-term view in mind, it is encouraging particularly with regard to the number of new orders and enquiries we have received whilst competing against firms from overseas to win this business.
Manufacturers such as us are beginning to feel the benefit of the growing trend for re-shoring and a new focus on the 'Made in Britain' campaign, which I believe is based on its reputable brand with a desire for improved quality and a reliable supply chain. Given this and rising wage costs overseas, we fully expect to build further on the shift.
Adding further depth and strength, we recently appointed Alison Hughes and Natalie Beresford to the company’s highly experienced business development team. They bring with them a mix of experience which further enhances existing in-house resources.
Our core focus remains on the beauty and healthcare sectors and to that end we held many positive discussions at the recent Packaging Innovations Show. I have every confidence in the new sales team to successfully convert a number of the enquiries generated during the event.
On the training front, our commitment to developing skills remains steadfast and this was recently recognised when Anjelica Gardelin, a second year apprentice, was awarded South West Durham Training’s ‘Best Level 2 Electrical Apprentice’ Award.
We look forward to building further on the solid work that has been done by our team this year and thank all for their efforts during this period of change and development for the business.
