The £1.2m-turnover packaging optimisation and supply chain consultancy, which works with major retailers including Marks & Spencer, says that the expansion has been driven by demand from clients who source a wide range of products and packaging in the Asia Pacific area.
Two members of staff from the UK have gone out to the new Hong Kong office, which officially opens on 1 November, and the company has also recruited three Chinese staff to help the company engage effectively with local suppliers and manufacturers. Its Hong Kong office features an accelerated transit tester machine, which helps to ensure the packaging it designs can withstand the stress of transportation.
The Bishops Stortford-based company, which has 14 staff, helps clients to optimise their retail and transit packaging as it passes through the supply chain.
It was founded two-and-a-half years ago by managing partner Greg Lawson and advises clients on how to cut down on packaging by redesigning or tweaking packaging for existing products or by coming up with designs for new product ranges. It aims to help clients significantly cut costs and minimise their impact on the environment.
Less Packaging has an onsite structural design engineering team which designs packaging using AG/CAD software and produces samples. It also has a project managing team and close links with graphics agency Magnet Harlequin, which is owned by the same parent company Writtle Holdings, although both are independent businesses. It has three UK-based staff that are dedicated to M&S, two of which hotdesk at the retailer’s offices. Its other clients include one of the top five supermarkets in the UK and a global homeware retailer.
Client partner Ian Bates, who joined the company in September, said: "We don’t just give advice to our clients. We help them to implement opportunities. In big companies departments often work in silo can cross communication can be difficult, but we can help to pull the different strands together and promote joined up thinking."
The company plans to open an office in India within the next 12-18 months.
