New ‘ecosystem offer’ boxes off record year for Burntwood business Lesters Packaging

A string of new contracts for clients in automotive, third party logistics and e-commerce has helped a large packaging specialist record the busiest 12 months in its 43-year history.

Lesters, which employs 60 people at its state-of-the-art facility in Burntwood, Staffordshire, has seen revenues soar by 25 per cent as demand for its full ecosystem of services - including design, boxes, supply chain management and logistics - grows.

To cope with the rise in interest, the family-run business is now on a recruitment drive, looking to take on seven new people across production, forklift truck driving, customer service and transport.

Billy Hutchinson, managing director of Lesters, said: ““Our collaborative system takes into account not just the box, but everything around it to ensure that we’re delivering efficiency across the entire supply chain.

“How is the box transported, where is it stored, what level of protection does it need and how is it getting there? They’re all questions we ask. A lot of new clients are switching from using lots of providers to just one, as we can offer everything under the same roof.”

He added: “We’ve achieved our best ever year and need more team members to help us take it on even further. There’s lots of opportunities in automotive that we’re discussing and we want to capitalise on these, not to mention supporting the expansion of our sister business Lesters Logistics.”

Lesters’ encouraging performance comes just a few weeks after it successfully retained its ‘AA’ BRCGS rating, which ensures safety, quality, and operational compliance across the entire supply chain.

The standard - primarily aimed at the food industry focussing on food safety, quality and legality - highlights the robust systems the business has put in place to oversee quality control and hygiene, process management and full traceability.

“There has been a lot of investment in technology, our people and key hires - together this has given us a platform to scale yet keep operational performance and compliance to the highest possible standards. Our ‘AA’ BRCGS rating is testimony to this.” added Billy.

“We’re also concentrating on becoming an integral part of UK plc’s supply chain network. A big focus for us will be on how we can help third party logistics and e-commerce solutions providers maximise their supply chain efficiency and, to this extent, we’ve joined the UK Warehousing Association to start forging a deeper collaboration in this field.”

He said: “Lesters Logistics has been a massive success story. We’ve transformed a struggling company into a full service third party logistics provider, where we can offer stock and serve, pick and pack and straightforward transport solutions in one place.

“It’s a crucial link in the Lesters ecosystem, which also includes a ‘reuse’ offer that buys back used boxes and resells them to the market to generate revenue and boost the environment.”

Lesters, the UK’s leading independent manufacturer of large format corrugated cases and high-performance packaging, has ambitious plans to expand through organic growth and acquisition if the right business, with the right values, comes on the market. It is also currently looking for additional warehousing space in the West Midlands to support the activities of Lesters Logistics.