Staff at The Wilkins Group, a Nottingham based food packaging firm with its UK headquarters in Colwick, Nottingham

Supermarket surge leads to 25 new jobs at Nottingham food packaging giant

 

A food packaging firm is offering up to 25 temporary contracts created following a surge in supermarket orders.

 

The Wilkins Group, a carton packaging supplier, has been classed a 'key Industry' following the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, and so is now taking on extra staff to ensure its role in the retail food industry chain is fulfilled.

 

Justin Wilkins, sales and marketing director at the Colwick-based firm, said: "Due to the current global and domestic situation and increased demand, the business is urgently seeking skilled operators from the printing industry.

 

"These contracts will be temporary but may turn into permanent roles dependent on future circumstances."

 

The announcement comes as Tesco, Asda, Aldi, and Lidl said they would hire thousands of staff after huge demand saw shoppers clearing shelves.

 

The Wilkins Group operates within the textile market from sites in China, Romania, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka but its food packaging operations are firmly based at its Nottingham HQ.

 

The business has 294 staff in the UK and deals with major supermarkets to produce items such as ready meal cartons and packaging for confectionery, pastries, quiches, sausage rolls and ice cream.

It reached a group turnover of £36 million last year.

 

Earlier this week Mick Searle, chief executive of the Packaging Federation, and Martin Kersh, executive director of the Foodservice Packaging Association, both reiterated packaging’s huge role to play as the UK goes into lockdown.

 

“Packaging is extremely important in circumstances like this,” said Searle. “People need to get what they want and safely. We are in totally unchartered territory”

 

Mr Wilkins added: “We are all working in unchartered waters, and we would really love to give temporary contracts to those most effected by the job cuts announced in the last few weeks.”