Press Release - Compak Packaging Angel investment sparks ambitious plans for eco-friendly packaging firm
A Mid Wales company is aiming to revolutionise the European market for the packaging of fresh produce after receiving a substantial round of equity investment brokered by xénos, the business angel network of Finance Wales. The investment, which came from a syndicate of two private investors, will allow Lampeter-headquartered Compak Limited to extend the scope of its activities and to cement relationships with customers to whom it supplies a range of environmentally-friendly packaging materials.
The company supplies a range of conventional-looking products for the fresh produce sector including netting, trays, films and flower pots. But the similarity with conventional packaging and containers ends there, as the firm's new Commercial Director Mark Bellamy explained:
xénos Regional Manager Richard Bonfield and Michael Harrington, Financial Director of Compak Packaging.
"All of these materials look identical to conventional items widely available but are environmentally-friendly in the ways in which they are disposed of," he said. "They adhere to stringent UK and European composting standards - within twelve weeks they completely compost down into good useful compost which is a great plus for the environment when compared against ordinary packaging since there is no adverse environmental impact." "Our environmental materials products are underpinned by intellectual property rights and also differentiate themselves in that they're completely free from genetically-modified organisms," Mr Bellamy continued. "The way that food is stored, packaged and sold is changing across the world, and is being driven by what customers want - in the United Kingdom, for example, GM-free packaging is an absolute pre-requisite. "Those are trends that are spreading to Europe, and it's a market that Compak is very well positioned to service." Compak was incorporated in 2003 after many years of research and product development in the food produce packaging industry by its founder and Managing Director Dave Holbourn. Mr Holborn was struck by the wastefulness of disposal methods in the industry - which generally involved sending used packaging and containers straight to landfill sites - and he formed the business to seize the commercial opportunities to reduce these inefficiencies. He and his team spend the following year working with target clients in the food sector, including supermarket account managers and packaging technologists, to demonstrate the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of Compak's product range. And the approach is paying off, with the firm starting to receive orders from several well-known UK supermarket and food retailers. The injection of capital was arranged by xenos, who have been arranging investments for Wales' business angel community for over seven years. The involvement of the business angel network gave Compak's Directors the chance to circulate and present their growth prospects to a Wales-wide network of over 130 potential investors - and culminated in the syndicated deal with two private individuals.
xé nos Wa les Bus ines s A ngel N etw ork, O akleigh H ous e, Ca rdi ff, CF 10 3D Q Tel: 029 2033 8 1 4 4
Press Release - Compak Packaging
The recent appointment of Mr Bellamy as part of the financing round has helped strengthen the company's management team at what is an early stage in its development - his sales background is helping the firm widen its activities in that area and cement the strong relationships it has formed to date. But Compak's management team hope to see their most ambitious plan come to fruition over the next eighteen months. In a substantial joint venture with Korean partners in the food packaging industry, they plan to establish a major manufacturing operation in Wales to supply European food markets with a new product. The plant will manufacture 'E-wrap', a film wrapping very similar to cling film in appearance, but with all the environmental benefits of Compak's GM-free product range. 'E-wrap' is currently undergoing a series of final trials and is made using a unique plastic compound that - despite its manifold advantages - will retail at the same price as conventional films used in food packaging. Compak is already a distributor of the product and its management team feel that it holds enormous market potential: "There's undoubtedly a large market for E-wrap, but attacking it in the right way is the big challenge," said Mr Holbourn. "We feel this collaboration will allow us to get it right from the outset, and our partners feel that Wales will make an ideal base from which to supply European customers. "Aside from the commercial potential of E-wrap, the product has the capacity to make a tangible and positive impact on our environment," Mr Holborn added. "We plan to start raising the finance to allow us to set up the manufacturing facility shortly and hope to be able to announce more details of the venture in the very near future." Commenting on the angel investment, xénos Regional Manager Richard Bonfield said, "Demand for Compak's product range is being fuelled by both commercial and legislative drivers in the food and packaging industry. They are introducing new plastics technology into an industry that has become aware of its wider responsibilities outside of the purely commercial arena, and the firm possesses the know-how to attract and maintain considerable market share. "We at xénos wish them every success and will be following the company's development with much interest."
xé nos Wa les Bus ines s A ngel N etw ork, O akleigh H ous e, Ca rdi ff, CF 10 3D Q Tel: 029 2033 8 1 4 4