Belmont’s board Partner, Abbey Corrugated ltd;
A lot gets said about partnership and what it really means. All Belmont and Abbey can say about it is that they have been partners for over 20 years so something must be right. In recent years the confidence each party has in the other has moved to a new level and now stands on the following trading principles:
- Just because Belmont and Abbey are two separate businesses does not mean that they should not act as one. Hard evidence of this can be seen in the way administrative cost has been taken out by ensuring that all ordering, delivery and invoicing information flows electronically via the web. Furthermore pricing between the two business is open with key cost drivers such as paper affecting pricing levels in pre agreed ways. Finally, Abbey form part of Belmont’s transport solution thus lowering Belmont’s transport costs and giving Abbey backhaul revenue to set against its board transport costs.
- Quality really matters. Abbey form part of Belmont’s quality control infrastructure and are included in the continuous improvement systems running within Belmont. Furthermore the split between converting and corrugating means that Abbey have to deliver high quality board or have it rejected since Belmont will not have its quality compromised. Integrated plants do not always have that discipline.
- Specialise and invest in what you do best. Belmont has strong print and box making skills and have invested in people and machines to make them leaders in this area. Abbey have strong corrugating skills and have invested in people and machines to make them leaders in that area. Jointly the two businesses have invested £20m over the last 10 years in state of the art box making, print and corrugating equipment
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- Innovation guarantees our future. Abbey has developed new board grades to meet the changing needs of the market and Belmont have upgraded print and die cut quality to ensure they have the latest technology to serve their customers.
If you want to know anymore about Abbey then go to www.abbeycorrugated.co.uk for more details on Britain’s leading sheetfeeder.
Mark Shaw, MD.