In its 50th year of trading, the group that previously operated as two companies, Deva Hawarden Board & Display and Paperboard Products, has now been brought under the Boardlink umbrella and will be called Boardlink Ltd. The consolidation took place earlier this month.
Referring to itself as the largest cartonboard press-forming manufacturer of paper plates and dual-ovenable board trays in the UK, Boardlink’s primary activities are cartonboard sales, conversion and lamination. It has sales of £22.5m and also manufactures a wide range of catering and janitorial wipes and wiper cloths.
The £4.5m was mainly invested to buy outright Boardlink’s 32,500sqm manufacturing and storage facility situated just outside Chester. Previously, all of its subsidiary businesses were renting facilities on the site, which has space for 2,500 tonnes of reel storage and 6,500 pallets.
Managing director Ben Still said the investment was ideal for the 100-staff business as it meant it did not have to move equipment or relocate staff. He said the company plans to develop certain areas of the site over the next five years.
In addition to the facility, some of the funds were spent on obtaining new cutting heads and technical upgrades on Boardlink’s sheeter, laminator and tray lines.
Still said: “This exciting consolidation not only makes our branding clearer, stronger and more succinct, it also enables Boardlink to provide greater clarity on the products and services that we offer to cartonboard mills, printers, ready-meal manufacturers and retailers.
“Over the last 10 years we have actively merged the operational and management activities and with the recent investment, it was the right time to merge the remaining businesses and trade as one company to the market place. We have an exciting year ahead and are fully committed to the future of this fast-evolving business.”
Still added that other reasons for the consolidation included general practice such as internal accounting efficiency and having a single market-facing company. He also said people struggled with the core business name and that the pronounciation of Hawarden confused customers.
Boardlink, which has been owned by the Lyon family since 2006, first made plans to consolidate around a year ago but didn’t expect it would complete until 2018.
“We are extremely pleased to deliver it a year ahead of expectations,” added Still.
