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Barnsley packaging firm eyes European expansion

A Barnsley company which manufactures food packaging used in major supermarkets is looking to increase its European exports.

PBS Packaging, which makes seven million plastic bags a week, has just translated its website into Polish and Russian, and is working with business support programme Enterprising Barnsley to move into other countries, such as Germany and Sweden.

The company, which has its headquarters at Wombwell, wants to increase overseas sales from 10% of its turnover to 40%. It already has markets in several European countries, including France, Italy, Holland, Malta and Poland, where it has a factory.

Turnover is up from £3 million last year to £4 million, with a projected target of £5 million for the coming year.

Director Howard Fearnley, who set up the business seven years ago, said: “These really are exciting times for the company. We have built a solid market here in the UK with the food bags and now we can move into new markets and new products.

“There is so much potential in Europe. I have just come back from visiting Sweden and Germany, and Russia could also be a massive market for us too. So we are really looking at a very bright future.”

Enterprising Barnsley helped PBS Packaging find their premises at Waterside Park, Wombwell, after the company outgrew a unit at Shortwood Business Park, at Hoyland. They have also helped with branding and marketing advice and have given staff export coaching.

Shaun Higginbottom, from Enterprising Barnsley, said: “The company has some big plans for the future and these are built on a very solid business base. It just shows with the right support businesses can grow, even in difficult economic times.”

Enterprising Barnsley is delivered by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and offers business support to small and medium-sized businesses of all sizes with growth potential.

The programme is supported financially by the European Union and has attracted £2,259,511 investment from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development, through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .