A CARDBOARD box company, which includes Sky Sports and Disney as clients, has expanded its premises and targeted to double turnover to £15m.

Tyne Tees Packaging (TTP), based on Heighington Lane Business Park in Newton Aycliffe, has become one of the largest independent manufacturers of corrugated packaging in the North East since it was founded by managing director Gerard Wiper in 1982.

He started the company with a 5,000 sq ft operation on Aycliffe Business Park and doubled premises two years later.

Now after moving into a 70,000 sq ft unit opposite its previous site on Grindon Way, TTP, which employs 50 people, has set an ambitious target to double turnover from £7.5m

Its new operation includes investment in the latest machinery which will allow the business to remain competitive while diversifying its client base.

Operations manager Mark Barron said: “We have relocated several times but that has always been because we have outgrown premises. This time is no different. To move the company forward, we need to bring in new machinery and expand capacity to grow even further over the next decade.

“Everything is much more competitive these days so we constantly have to look at how we improve efficiency to get things moving through the plant quickly and we can only do that by investing in new technology.”

Many customers have been there since the early days but the order book continues to grow with 25 new clients this year alone and turnover expected to exceed £8m next year.

Mark added: “We now have a fantastic operation with design, production, warehousing and logistics all on one prime location. It’s the most exciting time there has ever been for this business.

“Realising the potential for more growth, increasing turnover and generating more profit are all exciting challenges. Can we increase turnover to more than £15million? Well, if we have the right team in place at the right time and with the right machinery then yes, I am confident we will.”

Location was an important factor in TTP’s move with the business determined to stay true to its Aycliffe roots.

Having its own logistics division and fleet of vehicles so close to the A1 has served the business well, with most of its Scottish borders to Humberside catchment area accessible within a couple of hours.

Mr Barron added: “We have seen a lot of changes here and unfortunately many businesses are long gone. But Hitachi will certainly make people sit up and take notice. It will attract a lot of businesses back to Aycliffe and everybody needs packaging so hopefully we can benefit from that.”