Graham Beales, who has been with Polestar for four years as managing director of three of the four marked Polestar Direct sites, will become the division's managing director. He will report directly to the main Polestar board.
Beales said the move was "not simply a rebranding", and added: "Our capabilities are already in place, but by bringing them together we can put greater emphasis on offering our customers a fully integrated range and full pack production."
The centralised "management hub" for Polestar Direct will be at Middleton Grove, Leeds. Each of the four sites will have its own operations director: Tina Johnson in Nottingham, Jerry Corcoran in Bradford, David Wilson at Dewsbury Road and Paul Murrell at Middleton Grove.
The Middleton Grove site is also set to benefit from the planned capital expenditure. Two Sitma polywrapping lines from Integra International will be installed in 2003, making it the largest Sitma house in the UK.
Dewsbury Road will install a new 10-unit, UV-drying continuous press, to join its existing three miniwebs, but the group has yet to confirm the press supplier.
Story by Lauretta Roberts
