A BURNTWOOD business is launching a recruitment drive as it aims to bridge a skills gap in the packaging sector.
Specialist corrugated boxes manufacturer Lesters Packaging is creating ten machine operator positions at its facility in the town.
It comes after a lack of people entering the industry since the Covid pandemic.
The company said “significant investment” had also been channelled into specialist training to help develop its own team and by converting engineers from other sectors.
The new roles will be hands-on and involve operating and maintaining two TCY large format casemakers that are capable of manufacturing up to 15,000 boxes every hour.
Billy Hutchinson, managing director of Lesters, said:
“Fewer young people are entering our sector and this, when combined with an ageing workforce across the sector, means our industry is facing a serious skills shortage – unless we take our own action.
“And that’s what we’re doing. We’ve got a lot of opportunities coming through and we need to ensure we have the capacity required to ramp up production volumes, hence creating the ten new roles.
“Some of these could be apprentices, some could be experienced professionals or others could be taken from trades which have similar skills, such as attention to detail, process management and mechanical aptitude.
“Machinery and technology have also become more advanced and that’s why we’ve also launched our specialist training programme, which will give new recruits all the skills they will need to be a successful operator. They can also learn from our more experienced engineers, who will act as mentors.”
Burntwood-based Lesters has seen revenues rise by £7million since 2023 with customers across automotive, engineering, medical and retail.
Billy said:
“Our operators aren’t just a number, they’re at the very heart of what we do.
“There’s a real team culture in place and opportunities to work across different areas of the business as people learn and grow. Many of our employees have been here for ten years and more.”
For more information visit www.lesterspackaging.co.uk.
