Lesters is taking on a 101,000-square-foot headquarters in Cannock to house specialist packaging production, warehousing and offices. The expansion will allow the company to focus its existing Mount Road factory in Burntwood on high-volume manufacturing.
Lesters plans to create 10 jobs initially at the Hawkins Drive site, just off Watling Street. The company’s schedule calls for flatbed die-cutting, manufacturing and distribution to start by Nov’26, with all office staff moving across by the new year.
“This is a clear signal of our intent to be at £30m annual revenues by 2030,” commented Billy Hutchinson, managing director of Lesters.
“We’d outgrown our current footprint and, when the Hawkins Drive opportunity came up, it was an easy decision to expand and refocus our operations to make us more efficient and give our customers access to even greater capacity.”
“Whilst our high-volume manufacturing will continue in Burntwood, the new site will be our administrative center, warehousing and stores, not to mention home to lower volume and specialist packaging manufacture.”
He continued: “This will see us invest in a new strapping line, new waste extraction system, a new two-piece stitcher and a state-of-the-art conveyor system that will reduce the number of manual movements required.”
Lesters combines packaging design and manufacturing with recycling and logistics services. The company can produce and deliver tens of millions of boxes annually for customers in third-party logistics, e-commerce, freight forwarding and automotive markets.
The additional space also gives Lesters room to consider purchasing a second TCY Jumbo Casemaker. Discussions with the equipment manufacturer are underway.
“This technology has played a key role in our consistent growth, so the opportunity to get a second TCY Jumbo Casemaker would be transformational in taking us to the next level,” added Billy.
“Talks with the equipment manufacturer are going well and we expect to have the second machine operational within 18 months.”
Lesters projects sales growth of 25% within three years and 50% over the next decade following the expansion.
Source: Lesters
About Lesters
Lesters designs and manufactures corrugated cardboard packaging for commercial customers. Founded in 1983, the family-owned company operates from Burntwood, England. Its products include heavy-duty cases, pallet boxes, cartons, octabins, die-cut boxes and retail-ready packaging. It also makes extra-large boxes, bike boxes, furniture packaging and removal boxes. Services include custom design, production, delivery, warehousing, storage and packaging reuse. Customers include manufacturers, retailers, food producers, logistics firms and e-commerce businesses. Lesters serves automotive, aerospace, electronics, fresh produce, retail and industrial manufacturing sectors. It lists ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications, as well as Forest Stewardship Council chain-of-custody and BRCGS certifications. Lesters employee headcount is 64.
