Marketing director Vince Collins said the alliance with Sappi was the best thing to have happened to MoDo Merchants in years, and that it proves they feel MoDo Merchants is here to stay.

We need to increase our market share in all major product sectors over the next three years and to do this we must be aligned with the right manufacturers, he added.

Collins said that coated sheets accounted for 50% of all UK merchant sales from stock, equivalent to 550,000 tonnes. Uncoated sheet sales account for 18%, or 200,000 tonnes.

The new range comprises five brands: Magno, Silverblade, Graphic, PolarStar and Chorusprint, Silverblade and PolarStar are exclusive to MoDo Merchants in the UK.

Silverblade is manufactured at M-real Sittingbourne. Graphic Coated and Chorusprint are both manufactured by Burgo, while PolarStar is produced in Korea by Shin Moorim.

Story by Andy Scott