The Midsomer Norton headquartered group has achieved a grade A pass in the BRC High Hygiene Standard at its labels division, following a four-day audit process.

Sales and marketing director Andrew Law said: “The labels factory had BRC Level 2 accreditation previously, to get to High Hygiene was a step-change and means we can now do direct contact food packaging.

“It was difficult to achieve but it allows us to differentiate our offering. It’s another USP for the business,” he added.

Integrity’s labels operation, which is in a separate unit and zoned area at Midsomer Norton, has grown substantially, and had sales of circa £6m last year. Its other labels site in Cardiff is not included.  

In addition, the group has attained BRC Basic Hygiene grade B at its main business print division, an accreditation that has been instrumental in allowing the firm to secure a £700,000 contract with a large retailer for shelf-edge graphics.

To achieve the hygiene standard in the non-labels area of the business was a first, Law explained, and required Integrity employees to consistently apply rigorous hygiene standards across the 18-acre site.

Operations director David Wright led the project team. He said: “The key to our success was that our workforce quickly became engaged with the principles of BRC and could see its importance. We got great buy in from day one, and off the back of that we quickly implemented both procedural changes and physical improvements.

“Our engineering team worked on a thousand and one minor improvements, and the combined effect has been staggering. You are visually aware of the difference across the site.”

Integrity Print celebrated its centenary last year. It is part of MCAARP Group, which also includes A1 Security Print in Birmingham. The group has sales of circa £50m and employs around 380 staff.