13 February 2017

BPIF member Belmont Packaging on a mission

Kate Hulley bought new BPIF member company Belmont Packaging Ltd at the end of 2013. Nearly three years on and Kate has definitely made her mark on the business. The product range has been streamlined to focus on profitable markets and have added new capabilities, reduced costs and improved productivity have been re-invigorated.

Now, Managing Director of Belmont Packaging, Kate's aim is to make Belmont one of the UK's leading independent specialist box manufacturers and, by installing the latest technology, she is well on her way to meeting her own challenging goals. The business, which was started in 1978 by her father Mike Moloney, already works for several Blue Chip companies and some of the UK's household names. Specialising in boxes for the food and drink industry, Kate and her team are rightly proud of their range of innovative and eye catching packaging solutions. Belmont helps to display a range of products including.

For Kate, her role as Managing Director has put her in the position of 'a woman in a man's world' as box manufacturing is typically a very male dominated profession. She is one of a growing number of female entrepreneurs heading businesses across manufacturing industries in the North of England, helping to create jobs and business growth.

One of the biggest investments for Kate and her team was the four and six point gluing capability which allows Belmont to create very technical and eye catching niche designs. There has also been heavy investment in the company's infrastructure with the installation of solar panels, new ink dispensing system, new waste extraction system, a new compressor and new LED lighting which allows the business to make more efficient use of electricity and make Belmont a bit more environmentally friendly. Wherever possible, all Belmont's packing solutions are recyclable. Three years in Kate made a decision to install the Bobst Visionfold folder-gluer which can quickly and easily process straight-line, crash-lock and the all-important four and six corner work, which enables Belmont to produce very unique packaging solutions.

 An asset to Belmont is the Boxed-Up Packaging e-commerce arm of the business which also supplies to the domestic market as well as commercial customers. One of the main areas of business is the ability to supply both double and single walled cardboard boxes which provide packaging solutions for all those household necessities.

Looking to the future, Kate says her intention is to carry on investing in and creating greater manufacturing capability.