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Packaging 2001
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details


Rexam is selling its Gelsenkirchen drinks can plant in Germany to a consortium of private investors for £40m. 17-Dec-2001

Ivex Packaging is planning to create 45 new jobs at its recently-opened factory in Bishop Auckland over the next three years. 14-Dec-2001

Impress Metal Packaging is planning to close its Rhumney plant in South Wales early next year with the loss of up to 175 jobs. 13-Dec-2001

Eaton Press Direct, the Merseyside-based direct mail printer, has gone into liquidation with the loss of 80 jobs. 11-Dec-2001

David S Smith is to shed 100 jobs at eight office products distribution centres, and is also looking to spend up to £100m on acquisitions for its paper and packaging business. 06-Dec-2001

Iggesund Paperboard is to shed 50 of the 525 jobs at its packaging business in Cumbria. 06-Dec-2001

Hallmark has announced plans to consolidate its greeting cards manufacturing operation in Bradford, which will involve the transfer of up to 300 jobs from Altham, East Lancashire. 05-Dec-2001

DT Industries of the US is to close its CE King liquid filling and closing machinery plant in Surrey, and production will be transferred to sister-company Swift Automation in Alcester. 04-Dec-2001

Mondi Packaging is planning to close four corrugated plants at Sandy, Corby, Skelmersdale and Stockport, affecting 270 jobs, following the recent acquisition of Danisco Pack UK. 27-Nov-2001

TripleArc is planning to raise up to £4m in a flotation on Aim to fund the expansion of its online print services business. 26-Nov-2001

Litho Supplies has shed 60 jobs in its printing business, affecting an ink manufacturing plant in Herne Bay, the corporate sales division in Weston-super-Mare and distribution sites around the country. 14-Nov-2001

DS Smith Packaging is to close its decorative packaging factory in Stone with the loss of up to 32 jobs, and the work will be transferred to other sites. 12-Nov-2001

SCA Packaging is to shed 30 of the 300 jobs at its corrugated packaging factory in Darlington by the end of the year. 07-Nov-2001

Applied Optical Technologies, the developer of holographic materials for security and packaging applications, is to shed 25 jobs at sites in Leicester and Washington, Tyne & Wear. 06-Nov-2001

Bunzl is planning to relocate its Reel Paper Company paper distribution business and up to 40 staff from Nottingham to a new office and warehouse in Castle Donington in December. 02-Nov-2001

Macfarlane, the packaging services group, is reducing the number of distribution sites from 40 to 15 to eliminate duplication following the recent acquisition of National Packaging. 01-Nov-2001

Novar has put its US cheque printing business up for sale, which could raise more than £400m. 29-Oct-2001

Texol Technical Solutions, the Dundee-based supplier of prototyping, packaging and fabrication services, is planning to create up to 250 jobs over the next five years, to add to the existing 220-strong workforce. 16-Oct-2001

Waddies is planning to spend up to £15m on acquisitions over the next few months, and is talking to several specialist printers in the Manchester and London areas. 12-Oct-2001

Sappi is to close its paper mill in Glenrothes with the loss of up to 200 jobs, although some staff will be relocated to sites in England. 11-Oct-2001

Field Group is considering plans to close at least one of its two Scottish carton plants in Edinburgh and East Kilbride, which have a total workforce of about 400, and may set up a new greenfield site in the UK or mainland Europe. 09-Oct-2001

Rexam has completed the acquisition of a beverage can making plant in Ejpovice in the Czech Republic for £16m from Schmalbach-Lubeca of Germany. 03-Oct-2001

Bousfield, the Bristol-based supplier of printing equipment, is to cut about 40 jobs from its 180-strong workforce. 02-Oct-2001

CPC Packaging is to close its carton production facility in Reading by March 2002 and transfer production to sites in Bristol and King's Lynn. 25-Sep-2001

Inveresk has announced plans to shed a further 109 jobs and close paper mills in Kilbagie and Carrongrove. 20-Sep-2001

Caledonian Colour Printers is moving into larger premises at the South Park Industrial Estate in Peebles, with the creation of six jobs. 20-Sep-2001

Litho Supplies is to establish a third super site in the East Midlands next year, as part of the reorganisation of its printing distribution network. 18-Sep-2001

Glasgow City Council's printworks is to be saved from closure following a takeover offer from Ricoh Document Management. 04-Sep-2001

Rexam is looking to sell a beverage can manufacturing plant in Germany and its TBS automation machinery business, and is also in talks to sell its Imaging Products coated paper business. 31-Aug-2001

Inveresk is planning to shed up to 150 jobs at its paper mills in Bathgate, Inverkeithing, Alloa, Denny and Wells. 29-Aug-2001

Scottish Enterprise is in discussions with Clydeport about the possibility of building a £400m wood pulp mill at the Hunterston deepwater terminal in north Ayrshire, which could create about 800 jobs. 24-Aug-2001

SCA Packaging is planning to merge its cardboard box operations in Ellesmere Port and Wigan into one regional business, which may result in a number of job losses. 24-Aug-2001

Smurfit Townsend Hook is to shed about 80 of the 400 jobs at its paper mill in Snodland, Kent. 20-Aug-2001

Omnia Books of Glasgow has shed 65 of its 250 jobs, having decided to close its colour book printing operations in favour of mono printing. 14-Aug-2001

Macfarlane has sold its 11% stake in British Polythene Industries, and the £6.5m proceeds will be used to reduce borrowings. 07-Aug-2001

Donside Paper is to close its paper mill in Aberdeen with the loss of up to 256 jobs, following the collapse of management buy-out talks. 30-Jul-2001

Symphony Plastic Technologies is planning to raise up to £5.5m in a flotation on Aim to fund the expansion of its degradable polythene business. 23-Jul-2001

Quinn Glass is planning to build a £180m glass bottling plant on the former Ince Power Station site in Cheshire, with the creation of up to 500 jobs. 13-Jul-2001

Coral Products is to shed 20 of the 150 jobs at its video and CD packaging factory in Haydock, following a £0.4m investment in new robotic systems. 05-Jul-2001

Polestar is to shed 56 jobs at its printing business in East Kilbride, which will involve decommissioning two presses. 03-Jul-2001

Thomson Litho is to shed 50 warehousing and packing jobs at its printing business in East Kilbride. 03-Jul-2001

David S Smith, the paper and packaging group, is to change its name to DS Smith. 29-Jun-2001

The Book Service has won approval from Tendring Council for a £6m expansion of its book warehouse in Frating, with the creation of 50 new jobs. 28-Jun-2001

James Cropper has shed 20 jobs at its paper manufacturing business in Kendal, following a fall in profits caused by cheap imports. 26-Jun-2001

Valpak, the packaging waste recovery scheme, is to provide a free glass bottle recycling service to more than 1,500 pubs and bars in London, Yorkshire and Avon. 22-Jun-2001

Wyndeham Press has confirmed plans to relocate four commercial printing subsidiaries, including Midland Printing Services in Shrewsbury, to a new site in Luton to cut costs. 14-Jun-2001

De La Rue is to shed up to 100 jobs at its banknote handling equipment factory in Portsmouth, in order to transfer production to other locations in Europe. 14-Jun-2001

Duncan Web Offset, the Maidstone magazine printer, has been closed down with the loss of up to 200 jobs. 12-Jun-2001

Lawson Mardon Packaging is to close its York factory with the loss of up to 76 jobs. 12-Jun-2001

Lettershop Group, the direct marketing company, is investing £7m in new equipment at its factory in Leeds, including a new Heidelberg M600 press line. 12-Jun-2001

Electronic Packaging Systems is shedding 29 of the 300 jobs at its factory in Braintree, due to a fall in orders for enclosures for telecoms switches. 12-Jun-2001

Lindal Group is to close the Aerosol Research & Development factory in Portsmouth with the loss of about 100 jobs, in order to relocate production to Leighton Buzzard. 07-Jun-2001

Linpac is to close its cardboard box factory at Slaithwaite in the Colne Valley, with the loss of 38 jobs. 05-Jun-2001

Nampak Liquid Foods is to close its plastic bottle factory at Kiln Farm in Milton Keynes in September with the loss of 90 jobs, in order to transfer production to Newport Pagnell. 01-Jun-2001

Alistair McIntosh has set up an office with an initial 10 staff on the Deeside Industrial Park, to handle a new £10m a year print management and stationery contract for the Bank of Scotland's operations in Chester. 31-May-2001

API Group, the packaging and labels company, has announced plans to close its Lyme Green site near Macclesfield in June and transfer hot stamping foil production from Salford to Livingston, with the loss of 80 jobs. 29-May-2001

Stora Enso is developing a new rail terminal at the Port of Felixstowe, which will involve EWS running two trains a day to transport up to 380,000 tonnes of paper a year. 24-May-2001

Hallmark is to start recruiting 100 staff for its new greeting cards headquarters in Bradford this month, while other employees are being relocated from Bath and Henley. 18-May-2001

Macfarlane has warned of possible plant closures and job losses among its 2,200-strong workforce, in response to falling demand from the electronics industry. 11-May-2001

Jarvis Porter is planning to close its creative packaging operation in Hinckley with the loss of 250 jobs. 10-May-2001

CPI Thermotic of Mansfield is creating more than 150 jobs to work on the production of a new self-heating coffee-in-a-can for Nestle. 09-May-2001

Littlewoods is to relocate its Liverpool-based JCM Media printing operation with the loss of 85 jobs, and is seeking a suitable site elsewhere on Merseyside. 02-May-2001

BBA is considering plans to sell off its non-woven materials business, which is valued at up to £850m, in order to focus on aviation services. 30-Apr-2001

The Welsh Development Agency is to help fund a £5.4m investment by Packem of Austria to set up a printing facility for the drinks industry in Rhyl, with the creation of 50 jobs. 27-Apr-2001

The Museum of Advertising & Packaging in Gloucester is to close in October, and is seeking an alternative site in the city to house the thousands of exhibits. 26-Apr-2001

Clark & Evans, the Wolverhampton-based printing firm, has gone to liquidation with the loss of 24 jobs. 23-Apr-2001

CarnaudMetalbox, the drinks can manufacturer, is setting up a new 182,000 sq ft warehouse at Prologis Park in Leicester. 17-Apr-2001

British Polythene Industries is to close its Plasti-Covers plastic bags factory in Irvine with the loss of 35 jobs. 03-Apr-2001

Sonoco is planning to shed 26 jobs at its industrial tubes packaging plant in Coleford, Gloucestershire, and may close the operation. 29-Mar-2001

Charles Baynes is planning to sell its National Packaging division for £16m, its national distribution centre for £14m and its Buck & Hickman tools business for about £60m. 26-Mar-2001

GB Posters is relocating its poster supplies business to larger premises in Sheffield, with the creation of up to 48 new jobs. 23-Mar-2001

TT is planning to demerge its glass packaging division in the next few months, in order to focus on electronic components. 21-Mar-2001

Quinn Glass has commissioned a new bottle-making line at its Derrylin plant in Northern Ireland, and has secured outline planning approval to set up another plant near Chester. 13-Mar-2001

Stratus Holdings is to open a new book printing facility in Thirsk with the creation of 50 jobs. 12-Mar-2001

Fort James Georgia-Pacific is to invest £10m at its tissue products factory in Maesteg, which should lead to the creation of new jobs. 07-Mar-2001

AstraZeneca is selling its pharmaceutical packaging centre in Corby, which employs 100 staff, to PCI Services of the US for undisclosed terms. 06-Mar-2001

Curtis Fine Papers is under new ownership as its parent company Crown Vantage has been acquired by a New York-based private equity fund, which should help to secure the 280 jobs at its Guardbridge Mill in Fife. 06-Mar-2001

Bunzl is seeking further acquisitions following a rise in profits, and is particularly interested in the supply of fresh food packaging to supermarkets, paper distribution, cigarette filters and plastics. 27-Feb-2001

Waveline is to create 30 new jobs at its tissue products factory in Larne this year. 26-Feb-2001

Litho Supplies, the printing distribution company, is moving out of Leeds to new premises in Dewsbury to serve as the hub for its North of England operation, while a southern hub is being opened at Greenford in West London. 23-Feb-2001

David S Smith has announced plans for the temporary shutdown of two paper mills following a fall in profitability. 21-Feb-2001

Polestar is planning to sell off its packaging division, which includes Taylowes of Maidenhead, Jowetts in Leeds, Hannibal in Leicester and Broadley in Accrington. 20-Feb-2001

Paterson Zochonis is investing £3m in new packaging equipment for its Cussons soap factory in Nottingham. 15-Feb-2001

Wyndeham Press is planning to relocate two printing subsidiaries from Wembley to Luton, while Riverside Packaging in Newbury will be sold to an unnamed buyer. 13-Feb-2001

Henry Booth Group has won a £25m contract from the Association of Train Operating Companies to produce ticketing products for the rail network, which could lead to the creation of more than 20 new jobs in Hull. 06-Feb-2001

Kruger Tissue is considering plans to close two tissue factories in Portbury and Somerset with the loss of 130 jobs, in order to relocate production to Manchester. 05-Feb-2001

Robert Fletcher is to close its Stoneclough paper mill near Bolton and switch production to Greenfield, near Oldham, with the loss of 170 jobs. 02-Feb-2001

SE Labels, the European printing group that includes seven sites in the UK, has been put up for sale by Norwegian parent company Rieber & Son. 30-Jan-2001

David S Smith is forming an alliance with Georgia-Pacific Corporation of the US to supply packaging products to multinational companies. 30-Jan-2001

Macfarlane is to shed an unspecified number of jobs through the merger of its labels, packaging and merchanting operations into a single division. 19-Jan-2001

Hallmark, the producer of greetings cards, is to expand its new headquarters in Bradford with the creation of up to 300 new jobs, but jobs will be lost at other sites in Henley and Bath. 18-Jan-2001

Domino Printing Sciences is planning to relocate inkjet printer manufacturing and up to 40 jobs from the US to its UK factories, in order to save about £1m. 17-Jan-2001

SJP is planning to invest £4.3m at its label manufacturing sites at St Neots and in Switzerland this year. 11-Jan-2001

Plastibox, the Gloucester-based plastic packaging manufacturer, has closed with the loss of 30 jobs. 09-Jan-2001

Beatson Clark is to invest £4m in the refurbishment of its Barnsley bottle factory, which will include a complete refit for the furnace. 02-Jan-2001







The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details



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