Up to £3 million has been invested by McLaren Packaging into the construction of a new manufacturing, design and testing facility in Stirling.

The 20,000 sq ft centre is being built on a greenfield site at Broadleys Business Park for specialist designer and manufacturing subsidiary, Blue Box Design. Work is scheduled for completion in April 2018.

Blue Box Design, which currently operates from 8,000 sq ft premises in Stirling, was acquired by McLaren Packaging in 2013. The £3m investment, which has received Regional Selective Assistance through Scottish Enterprise, will create an additional 18 jobs over a four-year period, comprising a combination of shop floor operators and office-based staff.

In addition, the site and building have been 'future-proofed' to enable the subsequent extension into two additional modules; doubling, then tripling the initial floorspace. Overall, the facility will meet the most stringent of design and build requirements and incorporate a number of environmentally friendly features, including PV solar, electric car charging points and high insulation levels.

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Blue Box Design Managing Director, Duncan Robertson, said the new facility will greatly improve "speed to market" for customers by reducing the packaging development cycle time from concept to delivery.

"It will expand our production capacity significantly, enable us to retain highly skilled staff and create new skilled jobs in Central Scotland for young people through the creation of a design and new product development centre of excellence for the luxury packaging sector," he said.

"We see tremendous long-term value in a facility centrally-located within Scotland, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, close to the major operations of the whisky and food industries."

Donald McLaren, Managing Director at McLaren Packaging, said: "The investment in Blue Box Design's new-build unit demonstrates the importance of our Stirling operation and our long-term commitment to the future of luxury rigid boxes within our product portfolio. Our overall aim is to increase McLaren Packaging's turnover to £20 million by 2020 and this facility will make a strong contribution to achieving that goal."

The investment follows a £350,000 investment last year by McLaren Packaging in Blue Box Design's current site to increase production with the installation of a semi-automatic box-wrapping machine, digital cutting machines, construction of a mezzanine floor to increase storage and an LED lighting system to ensure items can be fully inspected to preserve the highest quality standards.

Image: (L to R) Donald McLaren, Michael McLaren and Duncan Robertson.

(LM/MH)