Way Down West

Our most south westerly site is Boxes and Packaging (Bristol) which is managed by Andy Clarke.

Andy joined the Boxes and Packaging team in 2004 after a varied and successful career working for some of the most renowned packaging companies in the UK. As these were sold or merged with other businesses Andy’s career brought him to B&P Bristol and the rest as they say is history.

That career history saw Andy learn a lot about the industry by working in a variety of roles both office and production based with his penultimate role being Plant Director for one of our competitors.

The move to Boxes and Packaging (Bristol) didn’t get off to the smoothest of starts though! He had barely got his feet under the desk when one of the businesses major accounts stopped trading with them meaning Andy’s first challenge was to replace those lost sales rather than get on with the day to day running of the plant. Pleasingly, several replacements were found – which sees the most significant in terms of turnover still choosing the Bristol team for all its packaging today.

Other challenges faced was the type of work they undertook and the maintenance of the complex machinery at the site. Andy was keen to address both issues and today work flow efficiencies and machine maintenance is commonplace both playing a part in the BRC accreditation of the site.

Our Bristol site is quite unique in that its core sector is the food and drink industry, especially independent vineyards, brewers and cider producers of which there are a plethora in the South West. Indeed, packaging for the cider industry alone has grown to £500,000 turnover with further growth being recognised on an almost monthly basis.

Investment in a high quality ink kitchen, along with a low turnover of skilled staff means that Bristol is ideally placed to supply high end printed cases to its customers alongside more utilitarian packaging. Combined with its unswerving focus on maintaining high levels of customer service, our Bristol site continues to be a positive player in Boxes and Packaging.

When Andy is not managing the packaging needs of the South West he enjoys a game of golf, rustling up delicious dishes in the kitchen and a tasty craft ale. Home is Stratford upon Avon and he has three grown up children, one of whom is emigrating to Sydney, and for which, holiday plans to Australia are already in place!