Double Awards Triumph for Benson Group

November 2008

Packaging specialist Benson Group, Bardon, Leicestershire, is celebrating its success at the prestigious 2008 UK Packaging Awards, where it won both the "Packaging Company of the Year" and the "Cartonboard Packaging Award".

The awards event, hosted by leading UK industry magazine Packaging News, took place at a special awards night on November 3rd at Grosvenor House in London's Park Lane, where some 500 people from the UK packaging industry were in attendance. The awards were presented by BBC TV and Radio broadcaster John Inverdale.

Commenting on the double victory, Mark Kerridge, Managing Director of Benson Group, which specialises in the production of food and pharmaceutical cardboard packaging products, said: "Naturally we are delighted to have been selected as both the "Packaging Company of the Year" and the top "Cartonboard Packaging" provider. This is a tremendous achievement for us as a business, and for all of our employees at our four UK production centres, in Leicestershire, Newcastle, Gateshead and Crewe. I am quite sure that news of these awards will also be well received by our many customers in both the food and pharmaceutical sectors."

Adding his thoughts on a great night for the company, Chairman Andrew Benson said: "This is a splendid achievement for Mark and the rest of the team. Benson Group has enjoyed unparalleled growth since 2002, when the business had an £11 million turnover. This year, the company expects turnover to have reached £85 million, which has been achieved through both organic growth and astute acquisition. This fantastic performance has been due to a highly professional management team, with a vision for what we needed to become as a business, and a great set of employees on the production floor."

One area of significant success for the company during 2008 has been in exporting product to Europe. Benson Group has been busy shipping carton product to virtually every major European market, with production efficiencies as well as the current exchange rate benefits being cited as major factors for winning this new business.

The selection panel judging the quality-focused "Cartonboard Packaging Award" finalists were presented with Benson Group's work on the Sainsbury's "Taste the Difference" Fudge range, whilst the "Packaging Company of the Year" winner and finalists were selected on overall recent business performance as well as a selection of carton samples.

The company had already been judged an awards finalist earlier this year in the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) Excellence Awards, and also received a Commendation and second place in the recent PrintWeek Awards "Printing Company of the Year" category. Both of these awards were open to printers from all disciplines, and whilst Benson Group just missed out on the top prize on both occasions, its selection within the short-lists emphasised the huge strides that the company has made in recent years. "Whilst we didn't get the top prize in those awards, we can at least claim to have been the top packaging company in both of them," said Mark Kerridge.