Made in Merseyside

The background to our Merseyside is one of the most interesting with a family connection and iconic British car manufacturing all contributing to its 40-year history.

Its home is Triumph Trading Park in Speke, Liverpool almost at the end of the Liverpool John Lennon Airport runway and close to the banks of the famous River Mersey. Just eight miles from the city centre of Liverpool, it is ideally located for all the major road networks that cover the sites North West customer base and beyond.

The site was originally home to the Triumph Motor Company assembly operations which operated the entire park between 1959 and 1979. After the closure of this iconic manufacturing facility, it was in 1980 that Hargraf opened its doors for business; a corrugated packaging company that was established by the current MD’s sister and brother-in-law. Established in a 40,000 sq ft factory originally, the team specialised in supplying the potteries and glass makers and supporting the larger plants of the day with specialist inserts; up to 100,000 of them every day.

At that time, the corrugated packaging industry looked very different in terms of machinery and capabilities. It wasn’t until 1990 that significant investment was made in a two-colour printer and stitching and gluing machines and this allowed considerable growth – ‘next door’ was acquired, and a prosperous business was built.

It was in 1996 that a 50% share was sold to another packaging company with current Managing Director, Stefan Weig taking the reins as his other family members retired. In 2000 the entire business was sold to another major packaging company and remained under their ownership until it became Boxes and Packaging (Merseyside) in 2005, a dual site operation initially until Bromborough was closed in 2010 and all assets transferred to the Speke site.

Now, a 67,000 sq ft site incorporates the main production facility, offices, workshop and design suite and provides employment for a loyal team of sixty people, many whom are from the surrounding area of Halewood, Hunts Cross and Speke and who have worked for the business for over twenty years.

On a technical level the plant has a range of diverse machinery to facilitate a range of corrugated casework, point of sale and a variety of other corrugated based, packaging solutions which allows it to operate in sectors such as automotive, secondary food packaging, chemicals and UN certified packaging, consumer goods, DIY and support the UK’s merchant network.

Two casemakers, four colour printing capacity, multi-point gluing, rotary and flat-bed die cutters, a range of finishing end capabilities, assembly lines and a design department with CAD tables for corrugated and foam gives the Merseyside team a diverse range of services to offer its varied customer base. Coupled with a multi-skilled, interchangeable workforce it is well placed to deliver the ultimate flexibility to fulfil customer requirements wherever possible.

Managing Director Stefan Weig commented; “It’s been a great experience so far and to have seen how the plant and the industry has changed over the years is staggering in terms of how technology has influenced almost everything we do. The Merseyside team are the businesses best asset. Hardworking and committed they have created their own family ethos to the company, a company which I am very proud of and which I look forward to taking into the next phase of its history, decade number five!”

To get in contact with the team at our Merseyside site please visit https://www.boxesandpackaging.co.uk/getintouch.html