Craft Focus - April/May 2024 (Issue 102)

10 Restructuring of COLOP UK COLOP would like to inform you of an important change in its business operations. After careful consideration and strategic planning, COLOP Austria has decided to restructure the business in the UK, transfer the business to a new distribution partner and close its branch in UK. This decision was not made lightly, but it aligns with the broader business strategy of COLOP to enhance efficiency and streamline its operations. The business activities of COLOP UK will be seamlessly transferred to the new distribution partner Greenstik Materials Ltd (registered office at Unit 9 Lancaster Road, Carnaby Industrial Estate, Bridlington, East Yorkshire, YO15 3QY). Greenstik Materials has proven to be a trusted business partner of COLOP UK over the last few years and has extensive experience in manufacturing and in UK wide distribution with an excellent reputation. As of 1st February, COLOP UK and all its associated brands (COLOP, Reiner, Noris, etc..) will be operated by Greenstik Materials. During the transition period the operation will continue from the Birmingham site (open until March 31st 2024) whilst training and the transfer of knowledge is undertaken. Part of the experienced COLOP UK team will also transfer to the Greenstik team. Based in Bridlington on the East Coast of Yorkshire, Greenstik Materials Ltd is a leading supplier to the home crafting market. In addition, they also supply the digital print & graphic industry. Serving a nationwide customer base with first quality technical advice, support, services, and goods from their expanding product portfolio. The Greenstik Materials ethos is always put the customer first. They tailor every order to your requirements utilising state-of-the-art conversion equipment and IT systems. Chris Deighton, of COLOP UK, who will be transferring with three colleagues, commented: “Whilst this is a significant change, it makes good sense for the business and will allow us to continue to grow and be a force within the UK market, and for me personally, I’ll be able to become more customer facing moving forward. I’d also like to place on record my extreme gratitude to those members of my team that aren’t able to transfer, who are working tirelessly to ensure a smooth transition in difficult circumstances for themselves.” STABILO to reduce annual plastic waste by 30 tons Following the launch of its sustainability initiative: STABILO Together, STABILO has taken another step towards its 2025 climate-neutral target. The new machines produce 100 per cent cardboard packaging, which will allow STABILO to produce all product packaging in a more sustainable and future-oriented way at two of its three production sites. By switching materials for more than 120 different types of packaging, STABILO will now reduce plastic waste by around 30 tons every year. The cardboard packaging produced by the three new machines will replace the two previous packaging formats: a paper and plastic mix and a combination of different plastics. The new mono-material cardboard packaging will encourage customers to recycle more by eliminating the need to separate different materials, thereby making recycling an easier option. In addition to this, STABILO has selected the most recyclable packaging material available, as cardboard and paper are considered the most recyclable materials globally due to the recycling process being so well established among both households and disposal companies alike. The packaging switch is of particular value for several STABILO point 88 and STABILO Pen 68 cases. Production of the now outdated, old containers generated non-recyclable plastic waste that had to be incinerated. With the new machinery these cases can be produced with zero waste and utilise a cardboard manufacturing process that requires less energy to deliver it. As well as all this, the three packaging machines are designed to accommodate future packaging formats, so STABILO can now convert other products to easily recyclable 100 per cent cardboard moving forwards, both for high volume products and smaller batches requiring special packaging.

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