The company, whose clients include John Lewis and Pets at Home, said the acquisition of a specialist multi-point gluer machine would improve its capacity for creating internet ‘peal and seal’ packaging such as book wraps.

It currently produces around 5 million of these peal and seal packages per year at its South Wales factory.

Managing director of Diamondpak Russell Davies said: “Internet packaging has been a consistently important part of the Diamondpak business and this machine will double our capacity. Just as importantly, it will free up other plant machinery for more specialist work.”

The latest investment comes at a time of growth for Diamondpak and the company has plans to recruit further staff in coming months.

Mr Davies added that the company was delivering more ‘specialist’ projects including large-scale boxes, intricate die-cut work and high quality print.”

“We’ve earned a reputation for taking on technically challenging work and that’s something that we are keen to develop,” he said.

“There will be more investment in modern machinery at the Pontypool plant, but equally we will be looking to recruit and develop staff as part of our growth plans.”

This strategy of focussing on the specialist end of the packaging market has helped Pontypool and Bristol-based Diamondpak achieve 15-20 per cent growth each year since 2012.

Having launched in 2008, the packaging manufacturer quickly became a pioneer of ‘peal and seal’ book wraps having recognised the growth of online shopping.

Along with a wide range of postal and internet packaging, it produces bespoke corrugated packaging from lightweight Air Freight containers, through to photo quality promotional and point of sale items.

The multi-point gluer is the latest in a string of investments at the Pontypool plant, which included a die-cutter and a large format TCY casemaker for large, box work and pallet boxes.

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At Diamondpak, we’re delighted to be shortlisted for a Welsh Business Award in recognition of our commitment to staff skills.

Organised by the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, the awards recognise the achievements of businesses across a variety of sectors. They celebrate success, excellence in best practice and the contribution Welsh businesses make to the wider community.

Diamondpak has been shortlisted in the ‘Commitment to Skill and People’s Development’ category. This means that we’ve been recognised as a company that develops the skills, experience and abilities of our workforce.

MD of Diamondpak Russell Davies said: “Staff development is a huge part of our strategy for growth. Motivated and well-trained people are the secret ingredient in our business and so we are very proud to have been recognised in this way.”

In 2015, 35 staff members of staff at the firm received training on topics from health and safety and printing through to project management and quality auditing.

Russell added: “We want our staff to enjoy working for us and feel recognised and rewarded. If they become skilled in their area then there is an opportunity to progress, which creates a positive culture in the workplace.”

Keith Palmer, chief executive of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, said: “The awards celebrate the very best of business in Wales and provide an opportunity to showcase their work, services and products, all of which are contributing to a growing Welsh economy.”

The Welsh Business Awards will take place on Thursday 25 February at the National Museum of Wales, and will be hosted by former Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones

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The move comes after the company discovered a growing demand among large retailers for sustainable packaging.

DiamondPak MD Russell Davies said: “FSC certification is a stringent and credible mark that publicly demonstrates a company’s responsible practices.

“Currently fewer than five per cent of packaging suppliers in the UK have this certification, but it is becoming more in demand among our larger, blue chip clients, such as Debenhams and Tesco, who are committed to sustainability.”

The accreditation means that the South Wales and West-based company can offer FSC certified packaging and point of sale displays to all of its customers.

The FSC system provides a way of tracking forest products through independently verified Chain of Custody certification. This covers every stage in processing, conversion, distribution and printing before the final packaging product can carry the FSC label.

DiamondPak, which has its main site in Pontypool, established stringent procedures and carried out a full audit of its supply chain to meet the criteria of the FSC. The company already had the ISO14001 environmental standard in place.

Mr Davies added: “More and more companies are taking their environmental responsibilities seriously, and using FSC certified packaging can be an important part of that.”

Established in 2008, DiamondPak has become one of the UK’s fastest growing corrugated packaging manufacturers.

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Staff at DiamondPak have been given an A* for effort after half of the workforce achieved career-boosting qualifications.

Thirty-five staff members of staff at the leading corrugated packaging firm have received training over the past year on topics from health and safety and printing through to project management and quality auditing.

DiamondPak operations manager Arwel Cooksey praised the staff for their achievements. “I’m very proud of how seriously everyone has taken the training and these qualifications show that the hard work has paid off,” he said.

During the past three years, DiamondPak has doubled its workforce to 65 and while recruitment is high on the agenda, training and development remains a priority.

With support from Welsh Government’s ‘Skills Growth Wales’, DiamondPak offers its staff a range of training courses leading to recognised qualifications.

DiamondPak MD Russell Davies added: “We want our staff to enjoy working for us and feel recognised and rewarded. If they become skilled in their area then there is an opportunity to progress, which creates a positive culture in the workplace.

“They feel the benefit of our training programmes and it shows our commitment to investing in their future development, both personally and professionally.”

The internal training programmes are designed for up to six members of staff at a time and take into account ability, potential and forward planning.

In the past few months, seven people have completed their Nebosh general Health and Safety qualifications with a further two undertaking the IOSH managing safety certificate.

Another two have completed NVQ Level 5 in occupational health and safety and 15 achieved their NVQ Level 2 or 3 in printing.

Three ISO quality auditors have been trained and seven staff achieved a Prince2 qualification in project management.

Established in 2008, DiamondPak has become one of the UK’s fastest growing corrugated packaging manufacturers.

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A former Remploy worker who offered a ‘lifeline’ to his former co-workers by finding them employment at packaging manufacturer DiamondPak has been promoted to the company’s management team.

Henry Booth, a 54-year-old father of four, has recently become engineering manager for the Pontypool-based company.

Mr Booth, who worked at the Remploy factory in Croespenmaen factory for 12 years, joined DiamondPak in October 2012 taking the post of maintenance technician.

At his interview he also persuaded the company to take on several of his former Remploy colleagues.

Russell Davies, MD at corrugated packaging manufacturer DiamondPak, said the staff had become an integral part of the company’s success story.

Mr Davies explained: “The nature of the work at Croespenmaen was similar to what we do here at DiamondPak and when we were approached by the Welsh Assembly to ask if we had suitable positions, we needed a maintenance technician.

“We took on Henry and haven’t looked back. He’s been a tremendous asset to the team and was instrumental in bringing other workers from Croespenmaen to DiamondPak.”

In total there are seven workers at the factory who were recommended by Mr Booth.

“I was very lucky in the sense that I finished work at Remploy on the Friday and started at DiamondPak on the following Monday,” Mr Booth said. “It was a lifeline at the time and has been a good move for me.

“I was even more delighted that I could offer that lifeline to other workers from Croespenmaen who could fill positions here.”

All eight members of staff were taken on through the Welsh Government’s Employer Support Grant, which contributed to their wages and training costs for three years.

Mr Booth said that he is very aware that others from the Remploy factory were not as fortunate.

“There are people that I worked with and see occasionally who are still looking for work, and that is very hard,” he added.

As engineering manager Mr Booth looks after a total of 35 machines, heading up a four-strong team.

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