Glasgow packaging company unveils £15 million plan to ramp up capacity

David MacDonald

By Scott Wright

A GLASGOW-based sustainable packaging firm has unveiled plans to invest £15 million to expand production capacity as it targets adding more than 120 jobs to its headcount.

Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging, which employs around 230 staff, is planning to expand manufacturing capability at its 14-acre Dawsholm Park site with the development of an innovation and design hub.

The self-funded plans also include a new factory to help meet increasing global demand for its moulded fibre and corrugated cardboard, which are used as alternatives to single-use packaging.

Cullen supplies products such as avocado trays and coffee cup carriers to major names in the supermarket and fast-food sectors, and healthcare products made of moulded fibre to the NHS. It also makes more intricate bespoke packaging to protect goods ranging from fine wines to electricals.

The company, which exports to more than 30 countries, said the additional capacity it is planning would double its output to more than one billion pieces per year.

Owner David MacDonald said: “It’s hugely exciting. The world’s biggest companies, across multiple industries, are looking to moulded fibre to solve many of their sustainability challenges faster than seems possible.

“To win, they need disruptive thinking – brilliant design and inspired innovation – but they also need those new products made at scale. That’s the really hard part but we rise to that seemingly impossible and urgent challenge. Indeed, the expansion further enhances our ability, enabling Cullen to deliver more than one billion compostable and recyclable products per year. That makes us almost unique, globally, at helping to solve the biggest packaging challenges we’ve ever known.”

Earlier this year, Cullen developed a fibre dry goods packaging product, The Fibre Bottle, which it said enables brands producing vitamins, supplements, dry foods, homecare and horticultural products to remove 270 million single-use plastic bottles or pouches from shelves annually.