The 72-staff Glasgow-based business said it gained a Grade AA rating for food packaging and believes it is the first finishing house in the UK to achieve BRCGS Issue 6: 2019 certification.

This means the company can now safely handle materials that come into direct contact with food, as well as those with an intervening barrier – in other words primary as well as secondary packaging.

The scope of certification activities is defined as “foil blocking and nesting of printed cartons, sleeves, trays, and inserts for food packaging”.

ACA director Dara Changizi said: “Having successfully operated a BRC facility for packaging materials for the past few years, we identified a need, from customer feedback, for nesting cartons and sleeves which come into direct contact with food.

“To achieve the standard set out in a 115-page document, our business management system was revised to include additional policies and procedures to meet the requirements with further controls put in relevant to primary packaging.

“The revised system was rolled out along with investment in staff training, machinery and resources. We were delighted when the auditor came in and recommended us for the AA grade, which was confirmed this month.”

ACA, which has a 465sqm clean/BRC room within its circa-3,700sqm factory, believes that it will be able to attract more business with the new certification.

The company has just signed a joint venture with Edinburgh-based Taskforce that will see the two businesses pass certain jobs to the other with the aim of enhancing business for both.

Founded in the 1980s, ACA has also recently purchased its first Heidelberg B1 die-cutter with stripping. This followed the February install of a Serviform LineA die-making bender machine, the first of its kind in the UK. The company offers around 70 different finishing processes.