Packaging group aims to wrap up more orders after investment

The thermoformed plastic packaging specialist saw its turnover rise by more than 10 per cent last year to just over £5m. This marked the sixth consecutive year that sales rose at this rate.

LVF’s range of products are designed and manufactured for use primarily in the food sector, for example confectionery, such as Easter eggs, and red meats, but also in non-food markets such as spirits, gifts and toiletries.

The latest investment has been made to fund the expansion of the company’s tool room and the purchase of a third CNC (computer numerical control) milling machine.

Nigel Coates, managing director of the primarily family-owned business, which is based on Hunslet Road, Leeds, said: “We operate in an extremely competitive market and the only way to achieve and maintain the level of success we’ve enjoyed in recent years is by putting a considerable amount back into the business.

“This latest investment is of particular importance as it will allow us to employ another tool maker, and significantly improve both our production capacity and turnaround times on tooling.

“What this means in operational terms is that we’ll be able to develop new packaging designs without any reliance on external tooling suppliers, which is an invaluable asset in an industry where customers need to get new packaging to market within very tight timescales.”

Mr Coates said that the business works closely with companies which have particular requirements for their packaging.

“Every new enquiry that comes from every customer usually requires a new piece of tooling to be made,” he said.

“The fact that we have to produce so many new production tools each year means it is of significant benefit to build those tools ourselves both in terms of cost and in terms of turnaround time.”

Mr Coates said that the investment will enables the firm to fulfil more bespoke orders.

The company produces Easter egg packaging for Lindt, biscuit packaging for Border Biscuits in Scotland and plastic trays for meat balls and beef burgers, which can be found on the shelves of supermarkets such as Tesco and Waitrose.

“We are busy today working for products for Easter 2015,” Mr Coates added.

LVF made a £400,000 investment in a thermoforming line in 2012 and bought its second CNC miller at a cost of £50,000 a year ago.

The new CNC milling machine is due for delivery in early spring, while work on the expansion of the tooling room, which will see it grow by 30 per cent in terms of capacity for manufacturing tooling, will be complete by the end of February.

“Our long-term aim is to be the first choice thermoformed packaging manufacturer across all the sectors we operate in,” added Mr Coates. “To achieve this we need the facilities to challenge, and better our competitors. As such our strategy is simple, invest to be the best.”

Next on the agenda is investment in boosting its production capacity.

LVF, which now employs nearly 40 people, was established in the late 1980s by Mr Coates, primarily as a “pastime” for his father, Charles, who was about to retire.

Charles worked at Waddingtons in Leeds, which printed, among other items, the Monopoly and Cluedo games. “That was our introduction to the process of thermoformed plastics,” said Mr Coates.

“We really had an opportunity for my dad to do some sampling and development work for Waddingtons, effectively carrying on one of the roles he used to carry out when he was there as an employee,” he added.

“Initially, the business was not a particularly commercially viable proposition,” said Mr Coates.

He left a job in engineering to join his father in the business full-time in the early 1990s, when it was given the opportunity to supply product into Waddingtons on a sub-contract basis.

“That necessitated getting some business premises, buying in an automatic machine which could produce bulk volume of Easter egg packaging. That was the start of the business as a viable commercial concern.”

LVF is 80 per cent owned by a holding company, LVF Holdings, formed by Mr Coates, and the rest is owned by his son, daughter and two key employees.

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