PICTURES: CHRIS BOOTH
BY MARTIN WALKER
PACKING A PUNCH
Stiller Warehousing and Distribution managing director Brian Simpson, contract operations manager Stuart Heslop and business development manager Thomas Prentice.
Stiller’ s contract packing arm scales up with major wins and ambitious growth plans
Stiller Warehousing and Distribution’ s dedicated contract packing facility on Aycliffe Business Park has hit the ground running – and the pace is only picking up.
The 42,000 sq ft depot on Grindon Way, which opened in 2024 and achieved ISO accreditation within just three months, has already secured several major contracts and is quickly becoming one of the firm’ s most exciting growth areas.
Business development manager Thomas Prentice says the early signs are hugely encouraging.
“ Contract packing is really picking up pace,” says Thomas.
“ We’ ve already signed some really large contracts, so we’ re expecting to see that side of the business scale up over the next two to three years.”
One standout project saw Stiller’ s team pack 25,000 boxes for a UK food supplier – in just 24 hours.
“ Nobody does that,” says Thomas.“ But we’ ve got the resources to make it happen.”
The Grindon Way site, just 1.6km from Stiller’ s main Ridgeway HQ, complements its warehousing and logistics operations by offering a fully integrated packing, fulfilment and distribution service – including hand assembly, repacking, labelling, kitting and returns processing.
It’ s labour-intensive work that many companies simply can’ t resource in-house – but Stiller can.
“ We want to be the go-to guys to help
Stiller’ s contract packing facility is quickly becoming one of the firm’ s most exciting growth areas.
when your assembly line is falling down, your packaging isn’ t up to speed or you need a new direction,” says Thomas.
“ We’ ve set high standards, and we’ ve got the capacity to flex with demand.”
Typically, around 22 full-time staff are based at the facility, but the team can expand up when large orders come in.
New investment in autonomous technology is also on the cards to support further growth.
“ There’ s all sorts of activity down there now,” says Thomas.
“ We’ re dealing with many projects currently from solar panel kitting, power tool repacking, book launch distribution and the building of free standing display units. All for North-East businesses and our neighbours on the park.”
Current work streams and projects at the packing facility include:
• Sub-assembly and assembly of industrial personal protective equipment.
• Vertical form filling, sealing, boxing and palletisation.
• Repackaging of consumer and construction products on behalf of a retailer.
• Hand assembly of gift boxes and fulfilment to residential addresses with clients’ nominated carriers.
• Fulfilment of point-of sale display equipment to high-street chain shops and supermarket concessions. Contract packing operations manager Stuart Heslop added:“ Contract packaging isn’ t a new venture for us – we’ ve offered it for some time on a smaller scale.
“ But having this dedicated facility allows us to service more customers both locally and nationally.”
Currently, one third of the facility is used for a long-term contract, a second third for short-term projects and the final third is ready for new opportunities.
Alongside commercial projects, Stiller also supports its partner charity, The Children’ s Foundation, by storing and packing baby boxes filled with childcare essentials for distribution across the North-East.
Whether it’ s a high-volume assembly job or a charity initiative, the message is clear – Stiller’ s packing facility is built to deliver.
“ It’ s exciting,” adds Thomas.“ We’ ve got the people, the infrastructure and the ambition to become a true leader in this space.”
It’ s the latest development for the famous Stiller firm, which celebrated its 70th birthday in 2024.
Its Newton Aycliffe operation, spread over 20 acres, currently employs 200 people and turns over more than £ 23m a year.
stiller. co. uk
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