Food container company surpasses new jobs target

A DURHAM food container company has surpassed its promise to create more than 30 jobs after embarking on a major investment and expansion strategy.

Faerch Plast Manufacturing revealed in 2014 that it was planning to grow the size of its 60-strong workforce by 50%, after bringing in new robot packaging systems and cooling machines.

Two years on, the company has surpassed its growth targets after bringing its headcount up to 87 in 2015, and 110 by the end of 2016. The growth helped Faerch, which is based at Dragonville Industrial Estate, to boost its turnover by 21% to £26.5m.

Director Henning Sandal said: “The fourth full year of production continued the drive and momentum of each of the previous years, in terms of investment and expanding production. Again, for the fourth year in a row, the company had a good year in terms of production, which was in line with the directors’ forecasts and expectations.”

Faerch’s hires were made across its manufacturing division, which saw its headcount increase from 77 to 100 last year.

In 2015, Faerch expanded its business by acquiring rival food packaging business Avro Holdings for £54.5m. The deal included buying the Anson Packaging group of companies.

Later the same year Faerch also took over Sealed Air, a food packaging company specialising in meat, salad, and fruit products. Despite turnover growing, the company’s significant investment over the last two years led to Faerch making a loss after tax of £3.1m, compared with £900,000 during the previous year. Operating profit also fell from £2.1m to £657,000.