Industry awards tally keeps on growing

Leicester-based Clifton Packaging has been recognised for its contribution to the industry at the UK Packaging Awards, adding a further win, as well as a ‘highly commended’, to its collection. The company, which focusses mainly on the FMCG and wet protein sectors and is based on Leicester’s Meridian Business Park, was shortlisted in four categories. […]

Groundbreaking networks for digitalisation in retail

German manufacturer of network-infrastructure solutions for business customers, LANCOM Systems, planned to present their unique all-round solution for digitalisation in retail, including VPN site connectivity, Wi-Fi hotspots, Electronic Shelf Labels, and highly automated, cloud-based network design and management at the EuroShop 2017. The top exhibit on the LANCOM booth is an innovative concept for “Digital […]

Easing the way for food producers

Amidst tight deadlines and pressure to deliver on time, the need for food manufacturers to increase productivity has never been greater, while manufacturers are facing stricter demands for compliance with food safety regulations and retailers’ codes of practice (COPs). To resolve these seemingly conflicting requirements, food manufacturers across Europe are turning in increasing numbers to […]

Top honours for badge firm

Europe’s largest name badge manufacturer, Badgemaster, scooped three highly commended awards at the Professional Clothing Awards in 2017: Best IT Innovation and Website, Made in the UK, and Best Manufacturer/Distributer. Olympic star and TV presenter Sharron Davies presented the awards at the glamorous event in London. Co-founder and Managing Director, John Bancroft MBE said he […]

A new international flavour

A new international focus will be seen in the 2017 edition of Cosmopack, a B2B event for the beauty supply chain which will take place in Bologna from March 16th to 19th. This year, there will be new exhibitors from South Korea and Japan. With more than 440 exhibiting companies, South Korea will present the […]

Dispelling the myths

Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director, EU Automation It’s safe to say that you can dismiss almost every Viking costume you’ve ever laid eyes on as being a true-to-life replica. While these threatening Scandinavian tribes did wear all sorts of bizarre headgear when marching into battle, there’s no reason to believe it was decked with the intimidating […]

Let’s get physical

By Pete Hayes, Co-founder / Director, PB Creative Ariel India’s new ‘Dads: share the load’ campaign has certainly struck a chord with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. The social networking giant’s Chief Operating Officer said it was one of the most powerful videos she had ever seen, and millions agree with her. Since she shared the ad […]

In Design

By Martin Bunce, Director and founder, Tin Horse Invention, new ideas and breakthrough unique innovations are all part of how we value design. Quantifying this value is always difficult. Indeed, valuing anything in the wake of Brexit, with ever-fluctuating currency exchange rates, is a challenge. But let me seek some empathy, and maybe help to […]

From The Consumer

By Danielle Pinnington, Founder & Owner, Shoppercentric The shift in shopping habits from weekly large trolley trips to smaller more frequent shops is leading to a range of challenges for retailers and brands alike. One key challenge is that of mission morphing in smaller format stores. A shopper may have entered the store planning to buy […]

Innovation Innovation

By James Pepper, Technical Services Director, Vista Retail Support With more than two million students living across the UK, this is one demographic that simply can’t be ignored by retailers. Figures from global business information service Experian puts the total amount spent by students in 2015 as £30 billion, with estimates for 2020 as high […]

Last Word: Missing a trick

By Jeanette Vivier , Director, Radius Europe Competition in the market today is fierce. With so many brands competing for shelf space and market share, it is vital that companies do everything they can to stand out from the crowd. One of the best ways to do this is to provide consumers with a tailored […]

Supermarkets had best Christmas for four years

Shoppers leaving it particularly late meant huge sales surge in week before the big day London, 10 January 2017. Britons left their Christmas grocery shopping particularly late this year which meant supermarket sales in the week up to Christmas were “surprisingly strong” and resulted in the best Christmas trading period for four years. Nielsen retail […]

First lifetime achievers announced with Worldstar winners

This year’s WorldStar presentation evening, which takes place in May, will see the first group of Lifetime Achievement in Packaging winners receive their awards. Thomas L Schneider, president of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) which organises the awards, said the awards honour “some truly great packaging professionals” and has urged all WPO members to make […]

‘Stop shop’ alert coming up for dissatisfied consumers

Shopping experiences both online and in-store are not meeting the customer expectation of purchasing goods anytime, anywhere, according to international consumer research. In a survey of 4,000 consumers, Blue Yonder, a cloud-based provider of predictive applications for retail, explored consumer shopping habits online, in supermarkets, in discount retailers and in the mass merchants across the […]

2016 in the rear view mirror!

As things start getting back to normal post-Christmas, I always find myself starting to reflect on the year just gone. It certainly was quite a year, with plenty happening in the wider world of politics, security and the economy. Closer to home I still find it fascinating how much media interest there is in all […]