It's almost 25 years since Graham Montague recognised a gap in the market for selling printed carrier bags.
Working in the chemical industry at the time, Graham saw that what was available for personalised packaging was very limited and realised that there was an opportunity to build a new business. Fast forward to 2021 and GM Packaging has not only relocated to a new unit at North Tyneside New York Industrial Estate – twice the size of its previous base – but is also on course to hit sales in excess of £3m this year.
The company’s success is down to a combination of Graham’s skill in identifying an opportunity, a fast-developing product range and the promise of fast delivery for customers. Now GM Packaging offers more than 1000 different products and exports around the world, offering everything from bulk items to personalised branded items for many of its big name customers. While COVID-19 has undoubtedly taken its toll on many businesses, it hasn’t all been bad news. The increase in home deliveries, eating at home and delivering of takeaways has seen a surge in orders for GM Packaging.
At the same time the company continues to supply some of the UK’s biggest retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Aldi, delivering thousands of containers every week. “We’ve seen a significant growth in a relatively short space of time.” said Graham.
“We’ve acquired a considerable amount of new business but also managed to maintain our repeat business which is why we have now moved to bigger premises.”
One of the first challenges was to ensure that the company was Covid-compliant, which led to putting in place a number of new rules including sending out only unopened boxes and temporarily ceasing its sampling service. The organisation has continued to supply its international customers – which come from countries as far apart as Nigeria and Iceland – while also still providing items for hospitals, local authorities and leading high street food chains. Always wanting to be ahead of the game, Graham was quick to recognise the importance of offering eco-friendly packaging and is continually sourcing new products. Among the many products GM Packaging offers is a range of eco-friendly items, many of which are made from bamboo and sugarcane, while others are compostable and biodegradable. The company also provide personalised packaging for a number of leading organisations as well as being able to corner the market in specialised, smaller volume orders. Graham doesn’t take for granted the fact that the company has been able to succeed in the current economic climate.
“We know it has been a very hard year for business generally so we are very grateful that we have been able to continue to grow and bring on board new customers as well as continuing to supply our long-standing ones,” said Graham. “We needed to move to cope with the level of orders that we are now dealing with on a daily basis and to give us the flexibility we need as we move forward.”
