Anderton Board & Packaging Ltd has embarked upon an exciting journey to transform its culture and operations, tapping into a huge variety of support programmes along the way.

Anderton Board & Packaging is a leading independent agent, merchant and converter of board and packaging, representing some of the world’s leading mills. The family business supplies a wide range of sectors, from furniture manufacturers to food and beverage suppliers.

While operating with a skeleton staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, senior leaders recognised that the quieter period was an opportune moment to take a step back and plan for the future. Since then, Anderton Board has engaged with the full complement of support available through GM Business Growth Hub and its partners, from international trade advice right through to digital masterclasses, leadership training and a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Manchester Metropolitan University.

Targeted funding to bounce back from COVID-19

This project was just the start of Anderton Board’s journey with the Hub. Following the heating and lighting upgrade, the business was able to make another key investment during the pandemic by securing a £3,000 Manufacturing Growth Fund grant to upgrade three of its handfed cutting machines.

After detailed discussions with a specialist environmental business advisor, the business successfully secured a £7,000 Resource Efficiency Grant towards new, energy-efficient LED lighting and heating units – resulting in annual carbon savings of 29 tonnes and over £6,000 per year in energy savings.
This single project alone tripled production capacity to 300 impressions per hour, and reduced machine changeover times – putting Anderton Board in an ideal position to fulfil increasing order numbers as markets recover.

The Manufacturing Advisor also supported Anderton Board with a separate Small Business Recovery Grant of £4,800 to purchase new IT equipment for remote working.

“Not everyone had a laptop, which made things difficult as we had to restrict numbers on-site, so we used the grant to purchase laptops that allowed our customer service team to continue operating from home,” Susan explains. “Even now that COVID is largely on its way out, having those laptops means we have the flexibility to support more remote working going forward.”

Preparing for a cleaner, greener future

Meanwhile, work to improve sustainability continued through CEO Robert Ward attended Journey to Net Zero – a series of workshops designed to help businesses understand how to monitor and reduce their carbon footprint.  

Despite not knowing what to expect, Robert came out with a much better understanding of the net zero agenda and, crucially, what Anderton Board could do to reduce its impact on the environment.

“I was most pleased that I signed up, as the output provided helpful frameworks to understand what net zero is all about and what processes SMEs like ourselves can introduce to implement solutions,” Robert says of his experience.

“The ethos of sustainability fits well with Anderton Board’s role as a packaging business,” Susan continues. “Like the heating and lighting upgrades, we’re always looking for ways to improve. We’re now exploring solar panels for the roof, we’ve recently replaced inefficient kitchen fridges, and we have installed electric vehicle charging for our car fleet. We are looking to put an EV salary sacrifice scheme in place for staff.”

Susan expects these measures to become a more critical part of the company’s brand in future.

“When we speak to customers, environmental certifications and accreditations always come up as important to them,” she says. “A lot of our customers in the fish packaging industry, for example, are switching from polystyrene to cardboard boxes because they are under pressure from their customers to become more sustainable, so it’s something we’re very conscious of.”

Embedding cultural change

More recently, Anderton Board has benefitted from the Skills for Growth programme to upskill its workforce through individual training plans developed with a dedicated Skills Map Officer.

Susan explains: “All office staff and management are able to access the online skills portal for bite-sized courses on things like Microsoft applications and soft skills training, so it’s a great resource for people to have. We’ve even created a dedicated training room to allow employees to take time out to complete their coursework.

“There are lengthier courses as well. We’ve got three team leaders on a team-leading diploma course and a new customer service advisor completing a customer service diploma. One of our younger warehouse operatives has just enrolled on a manufacturing diploma, and we also have a business administration apprentice on an 18-month apprenticeship programme. “Two of our company values are Agile and Innovative – this training and development are essential in embedding these values and creating a growth mindset throughout the business.”

“Sometimes you need to step back and look at new things”

“It’s fantastic that all of this support is available,” Robert concludes. “As an SME with quite a lean team, we can call on the Hub as an extended resource. The financial support is one thing, but having access to specialist experience and such a wide network has really helped.

“We also benefited from being part of the Peer Networks programme, which has already translated into cash benefits for the business on several fronts, from learning about R&D tax credits to finding new customers.”

“It’s important that we leverage the support available to us to assist with our strategic objectives and ensure we continue to scale. Many SMEs are very busy in the day-to-day job of firefighting, but sometimes you need to step back and look at new things. You need to have someone available to help start those projects, and that’s what the Hub and wider Growth Company can do.”