About 15 people, IFST members and non-members, students and representatives of Clifton’s customers had a fantastic evening at Clifton Packaging in Leicester.
Introduction from Shahid Sheikh, OBE the managing director of Clifton Packaging Group who talked about the history from starting with paper bags and £500, building their business, year on year expansion and adding machines. Relationship and trust between suppliers, Clifton and customers is key. Clifton has a unique position as not only do they manufacture packaging, but they also make and sell associated packing equipment such as multi-head weighers, and metal detectors, as well as having a contract dry-foods packing business. This gives them an understanding of the problems, but also gives them an opportunity to try out their ideas. This position has led to substantial growth and expansion of their business, they are just about to open another adjacent building.
Shane D’Souza, Clifton’s Technical and R+D Director then gave a very interesting presentation on environmental aspects, the recyclability codes on packaging from 1-7, what they mean, and why some items are not recycled, even if they are recyclable. He gave a strong argument for using recyclable materials rather than replacing with other less or non-recyclable alternatives
We split into two groups, led by Shane and Shahid, and toured the packaging manufacturing and also saw some of the equipment they make. We saw most of the packaging lines running, and their key points were explained clearly by their operators.
At the closing discussion, Shahid explained that they are going to open a Packaging Centre of Excellence in the next 6 months where there will be the opportunity to hold seminars, and other events.