Fundraising & Donations in 2021 (So Far)

A Good Start to Ribble’s Fundraising in 2021

Over the course of 2020, we donated over £25,000 to a variety of charities close to our community and employees’ hearts. And in December, we ended the year on a high by fundraising over £2000 for Alzheimer’s Society by collectively running, walking and cycling over 1823 miles collectively over two weeks.

At the beginning of this year we asked our employees which charities they wanted us to focus our donations and fundraising efforts towards in 2021. We received lots of feedback and suggestions of some wonderful charities, and so far we have donated £26,200 to 18 of those charities.

Recent Events

In the past two weeks the team at Ribble have been busy taking part in the Memory Walk for Alzheimer’s Society and a Virtual Race Night for Macmillan Cancer Support. Both events were a success and great fun, raising £370 and £345 respectively.

We have many more fundraising events planned for the rest year and we can’t wait to help raise more money and awareness for some fantastic charities.

Christmas Donations & Fundraising

At Ribble, we have always prided ourselves on the work we do with charities and organisations which help our local community. This year has been especially challenging for a lot of people, and we are thankful for organisations such as Cash 4 Kids and Mahdlo who continuously work hard to help local families in need. Over the past couple of weeks we have worked alongside Mahdlo Youth Zone in their mission to deliver over 300 Christmas hampers to local families festive season, by donating boxes and food cupboard essentials. Mahdlo aims to deliver high quality, innovative activities and experiences for young people from Oldham, to provide opportunities to raise aspirations and support young people to be the best they can be. Click here to read more about the fantastic work Mahdlo has done this Christmas. In addition, we have also used our annual Christmas Jumper Day to help raise over £150 for Cash 4 Kids Manchester, who support children and people affected by poverty, abuse, neglect, life-limiting illness and those who have additional needs.

We would like to thank everyone who got involved and generously donated towards our fundraising this year. We hope 2021 will bring a little bit of normality and we can continue to support our local community in whatever way we can.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Team Challenge Raises Over £2000 for Alzheimer’s

During the last two weeks of November, our team here at Ribble embarked on a huge challenge, all with the aim of raising as much money and awareness for Alzheimer’s Society as possible.

What was the Challenge?

To collectively run, walk or cycle a minimum of 1,019 miles, the distance from Oldham to Panotec (our Italian partners), over the course of two weeks.

What do Alzheimer’s Society do?

Alzheimer’s Society are the UK’s leading care and research dementia charity. They campaign for change, fund research to find a cure and support people living with dementia today. It is a cause which is close to many of our employee’s hearts and we are proud to do our bit to help them in their important work.

How did we get on?

After two weeks of braving the bitter cold Northern weather, Team Ribble managed to collectively run, walk and cycle over 1,823 miles (804 more miles than the original target) and raise a whopping £1,020. Prior to the Challenge starting, Ribble Packaging pledged it would match whatever its employees managed to raise. Therefore, the grand total of money raised for Alzheimer’s Society was…  £2,040!

We would like to give a huge pat on the back to everyone who took part in the challenge and thank anyone who has generously donated.

 

Ribble’s £3.5 million investment into their future

Recently we have successfully completed a £3.5 million investment project on time, despite the challenges presented by Covid-19. The project, which included a warehouse extension and the installation of various state-of-the-art machinery, started in February and concluded in early September. The investment will allow us to expand our capacity and continue our growth in the future.

Over the past 5 years we have worked hard to create a position as the European market leader for the manufacture and supply of corrugated Fanfold, in addition to pioneering Right Size packaging solutions in the UK. We started this journey to success 8 years ago when we prototyped the very first Fanfold stacker developed by Universal Corrugated B.V. Using this highly automated and ground-breaking technology, we were able to ride the growing wave of the ‘on demand’ culture. It was our desire to continue as the market leaders in this rapidly developing and evolving market that lead to the decision to make this latest investment.

The investment consisted of 4 projects involving a multitude of contractors from all over Europe, all of whom came together with our own Ribble team to coordinate the installations. The teams worked seamlessly together in an environment made all the more challenging by the requirement to comply with our comprehensive Covid risk management plan.

Project 1 – The ‘Airbond’ System

The system, installed by JKSP Services, was an investment on the drying section of the conventional corrugator. It is designed to dry double walled board at higher running speeds, allowing us to increase the line speed of double wall from 170 metres per minute up to 220 metres per minute.

Project 2 – The Unifold

The largest part of the of the investment was The Unifold, the latest generation and fastest fully automated fanfold stacker in Europe. This machine was manufactured by Universal Corrugated B.V, shipped over from the Netherlands and installed and commissioned within a 2 week period. The upgrade will allow us to increase our running speed by 33% from 150 metres per minute to 200 metres per minute, with the capability for higher speeds in the future.

Project 3 – Dedicated Press Track

The press track, dedicated to The Unifold stacker, incorporates a state-of-the-art palletiser, turntable, pallet pusher and conveyorization. All of which will aid the manufacture and delivery of Fanfold to the various Right Size automated packaging systems available across the market.

Project 4 – Warehouse & Factory Extension

PLP Construction were contracted to build the warehouse extension which has increased our onsite storage capacity by 18,000 square feet. This significant increase will allow us to store on average an extra 1000 pallets and cope with the newly increased running speeds of the fanfold stacker.

Stephen Rector, the Managing Director of Ribble Packaging, praised his employees and the contractors involved stating “The work done on this project has been immense and the result is, in my opinion, fantastic. The Fanfold and Right Size packaging market has grown significantly over the past few years and show no signs of stopping. We therefore needed to evolve with the market to protect our hard-earned market leading position. This investment will ensure we do exactly that whilst also giving us the ability to strengthen our relationships and partnerships with the leading Right Size packaging machine manufacturers such as Panotec, Quadient and CMC.”

6 Months On – An Operational Success!

Since the completion of our investment project in September last year, the packaging industry has experienced an unprecedented increase in demand as a direct result of Covid-19 and Brexit. Despite the challenges which have arisen for the industry as a whole, Ribble have thrived due to the operational success of the new machinery installed and extra warehouse space. Within four weeks of the investment projects being commissioned Ribble had delivered a 25% increase in productivity, allowing them to absorb the demand and maintain their high service levels. Further productivity improvements are expected to be gained from this investment over the coming months.

In addition to their own operational productivity, Ribble’s Right Size packaging has proven to be an effective solution for their customers, particularly for retailers. Right Size has allowed businesses to regain control and streamline their packaging process despite the ongoing short-term packaging shortage. Stephen Rector commented on the positive impact Right Sizing has on the packaging industry “With the events of 2020 and a greater emphasis on the role of ecommerce within the retail industry, we have seen a rise in demand of Right Size technology that can cope with the ever-changing retail landscape.”

Right Size packaging solutions consist of a packaging machine placed on a customer’s site fed by Fanfold corrugated board (a concertina of continuous cardboard sheet) that allows Right Size solutions to automatically cut the right amount of material needed for a perfect size box for each product being packaged.

With a shift towards greener packaging materials and a worldwide cardboard shortage, many companies have struggled to source the packaging materials they need or are forced to seek less sustainable alternatives. Right Size packaging technology removes excess product packaging by placing each product in the perfect size box – this reduces cardboard consumption overall, typically by 25%. Current Right Size customers are also benefitting from purchasing Fanfold corrugated board rather than conventional carboard boxes. By removing conventional box purchasing and switching to Fanfold, companies only purchase the amount of cardboard they require rather than having surplus boxes due to minimum order quantities dictated by suppliers. All of these benefits lead to Right Size customers reducing their amount of cardboard consumption and relieving pressure on the cardboard supply chain.

Mahdlo Youth Zone Support

We were delighted to support Mahdlo Youth zone during lockdown by donating £2,000. Mahdlo is a state-of-the-art Youth Zone in the heart of Oldham for 8-19 year olds, open 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year offering a range of activities and opportunities to young people across Oldham for just 50p a member. During lockdown they have made more than 180 calls per week to members, with those needing it most receiving 7-days-a-week support. The Youth Zone has also moved much of its Youth Work delivery online, with at least 15 live Zoom sessions per week and pre-recorded content posted every single day onto the charity’s social media.

Lucy Lees, Deputy Chief Executive at Mahdlo Youth Zone, said: “We are so incredibly grateful for Ribble’s generous gift and cannot say thank you enough! In these uncertain times their donation will allow Mahdlo to continue to provide vital provision to the young people in our community who need it most.”

Donations to Christies & Dr Kershaw’s

Dr Kershaw’s Hospice has been part of Oldham’s community for over 30 years and provides specialist palliative care for adults with non-curable, life-limiting illnesses in a peaceful and homely environment. The Christie at Oldham Hospital was the first in a unique network of Christie radiotherapy centres where it lets patients access first class cancer treatment closer to home. Both of these charities are very close to our hearts here at Ribble, which is why we decided to donate a combined total of £13,000 to support the amazing work they do every day.
“Over the past few years team Ribble have focused our fundraising efforts on supporting charities which make a real difference to our local area. Dr Kershaw’s and Christie’s have been at the heart of our community for many years and are charities which mean a lot to many of employees and their families. With that in mind we decided to donate and support the fantastic work they continue to do for our community.” – Sam Barber, HR Director, Ribble Packaging.

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