Long term deal could bring new jobs to town
A warehouse and distribution firm has clinched a new long term deal with a global packaging company in Powys.
The McCarthy Group has signed a three-year extension to its contract with Wipak UK, which has a manufacturing base in Welshpool where it makes packaging films for preserving and protecting food products.
Wipak, which has 11 factories world-wide, is part of a large, family owned conglomerate called Wihuri that’s headquartered in Nastola, two hours north of the Finnish capital, Helsinki.
The Finnish parent company, Wihuri opened the Wipak factory in Welshpool in 1996 and recently invested over £5 million in a new state of the art production line at the Buttington Cross Enterprise Park.
It is expected to create 50 new jobs for the local area in the coming years.
According to McCarthy Managing Director Mike McCarthy, the contract extension was a real “feather in the cap” for his 90-strong team.
It also underlined, he said, the value of investing in their new Elm Point HQ complex on Wrexham Industrial Estate, where the firm is now building an 18,000 sq ft extension and doubling the size of its truck parking yard.
“This is fantastic news for the company. We’re delighted that our contract with Wipak has been extended and they have chosen us as their partner going forward.
“It’s a real vote of confidence in the whole team here. We’ve worked well together over the last three years and they have significant expansion plans so we are really pleased to have them as a really important client of ours.
“We are well placed to grow with them and support them with their expansion plans."
Last October Wipak UK was named Powys Business of the Year and is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2025.
Peter Stavrou, the Wipak Group’s Logistics Manager, said: “We were introduced to McCarthy and evaluated them and saw them potentially as a really good long term partner.
“They were also able to offer not only an outbound process to distribute to our customers but also an inbound process bringing raw material back into our factory.
“The high standards here are very important because we will not use any warehouse that is not BRC accredited.
“These are exciting times for both companies. We’ve really been happy with the partnership, hence why we signed the extension and we’re really looking forward to continue to grow with them."
