Nicklin toasts century of packaging expertise

A Midlands family business is celebrating 100 years of trading at the forefront of the transit packaging industry.

Now in its fourth generation of family ownership, Birmingham-based Nicklin Transit Packaging has emerged from humble beginnings to become one of the UK's longest established and most experienced nationwide providers of bespoke timber and corrugated transit packaging products and services.

The company has gone from strength to strength over an eventful 100 year period that has seen two world wars and several recessions, achieving a number of industry 'firsts' and most recently, registering record growth and turnover in excess of £7m in 2012.

Operating from an 9200 thousand sq m site in the Nechells area of the city and employing around 70 staff, the company supports a diverse customer base that spans a variety of industries and operations from global blue-chip companies to regional SMEs.

Nicklin is marking its centennial year with a substantial programme of investments in IT, automation, machinery and new staff in addition to the launch of a revised website incorporating a new e commerce platform.

Commenting on the firm's 100 years in business, David Nicklin, Managing Director, says, "It's a real honour to be at the helm of a multi-million pound turnover business that started out from such modest beginnings a century ago. Though the company has evolved significantly since 1913, embracing many new technological developments along the way, throughout our evolution we have maintained the old-fashioned values on which the business was founded. Put simply, this means continuing to provide customers with first class service and a range of the highest quality, rigorously accredited products tailored to their individual requirements.

He adds, "A further cornerstone of our success has been our approach to actively demonstrating the firm's environmental credentials. We were the first UK company to comply with International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM15), are one of only a handful of industry providers to hold FSC/PEFC chain-of-custody accreditation and can boast a raft of other important environmental management accreditations. Looking to the future, this class leading approach to environmental management is going to be of increasing importance to our customers, particularly those looking to access lucrative export markets, where the ability to demonstrate a rigorous approach to sustainability is crucial."