Working with Iain Pemberton, Senior Relationship Manager for Commercial Banking at NatWest in Chester, PEC secured a loan of £269,500 to help finance the purchase of the freehold of a new site.
Colin said: “We’ve been working with Iain at NatWest since 2006 and Iain has always been great; very supportive and proactive. He’s helped us through difficult times and has assisted us with freeing up cashflow. Now that we’ve secured the future of our new site in Newton Aycliffe and 30 jobs overall, our plan now is to consolidate and bring new business on board.”
With a turnover of over £8m, PEC Packaging aims to increase that to £9m by next year. Two more staff have already been taken on as a result of the funding with five further staff anticipated by the end of the year.
As well as packaging and freight, the company has developed a further income stream worth £1m annually in a subsidiary company by reusing the wood waste from the manufacturing process that would previously have been thrown away.
Colin added: “We’re proud to be extremely green and are probably one of the most environmentally-friendly packaging firms in the industry. We’ve invested heavily in equipment to help us recycle and we even use our sawdust and off-cuts to make racehorse bedding and fuel briquettes.”
Iain Pemberton from NatWest added: “It’s a pleasure to work with someone as enterprising as Colin. From a young age, he’s built up a successful business and his recent expansion has helped secure the future of many jobs. Working with him on the latest chapter has been very exciting and we wish him every success with cracking the north east market.”
