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news and viewsRigid Containers Winter update for customers and staffVol 17 December 2010Director’s Report — Richard CowardIt is hard to believe that another year haspassed so quickly! It has been a busy year,both on the domestic front — with theGeneral Election and a plethora ofsporting tournaments — as well as in theUK corrugated packaging industry. Likeevery single box maker in the country, wehave been hit by significant raw material price increases,which resulted in our recycled and virgin papers being over 70per cent higher than this time last year. We have been left noalternative but to pass these increases onto our customers,and I know this has caused some unrest in the market place.Suffice to say, we continue to work hard at keeping theseincreases to a minimum by keeping an eye on overall operatingcosts.It’s not all doom and gloom however! With the backing of ourparent company VPK, we unveiled a significant investmentplan this year, totalling some £3.5 million. This saw theinstallation of one of the world’s most impressive flexo printingmachines at Selby, as well as additional converting machineryat both sites — all of which is put in place to ensure wecontinue serving customers with product at the right price,with the right levels of innovation and as always, on time. Butit doesn’t stop there! We have additional investment plans forour Desborough site, which we will unveil in the New Year.We’ve also seen a few changes at Rigid. Earlier this year, wesaid a fond farewell to our Sales Director, Chris Trevithick.Chris passed the reins to Julian Freeman, who I am glad toreport has hit the ground running — and the timing of hisappointment is perfect, especially as we enter new marketswith our high quality flexo printing capabilities.The general market situation continues to be uncertain, with afragile economy poised in the balance. Industry continues toplay a waiting game to see what will happen in the economyfollowing the Government’s announcement on spending cuts.The only thing that is certain is that Rigid continues to grow instature as each month passes.State of the art machine for SelbySix colour printing machinefor highest quality workIt is not very often that we ‘steal’ thelead item to report on what we havebeen up to — we usually reserve thisspace to showcase the work we havebeen doing with our customers.However, we feel that this piece ofnews is well worth the space!Over the period of a few weeks atthe end of September, we tookdelivery of a six colour flexo rotary diecutterfrom German machinerymanufacturer, Göpfert GmbH. Thisstate-of-the-art piece of equipment issecond to none, and is capable ofprinting up to five colours in-line, withapplication of a varnish on the sixthprint unit. Once printed andvarnished, the sheets are then sentthrough the die-cutting unit, beforebeing separated and palletised.This is a significant step for us, asit means we are now able to producethe highest levels of decorativegraphics on corrugated board,enabling customers to achieve moreeye-catching graphics on decorativepackaging, whether it be for the pointof-sale,or for transit packaging.We have taken the time to haveour key operators trained in the art ofhigh quality print by sending them toGöpfert’s manufacturing facility inGermany. Additional training from inkand paper suppliers has helped usachieve some really spectacularresults already.Richard Coward, Julian Freeman andSteve Roche unveil the new machineMay I take this opportunity to wish you and yourfamilies all the best for a safe, happyand healthy festive season.

2news and viewsCHRISTMAS OPENING TIMES...(Hours of opening subject to change)DESBOROUGH PRODUCTION SELBY PRODUCTION SALES OFFICEThur 23rd Dec Closes at midnight Closes at 8:00pm 8.00am - 6.00pmWarehouse - 24 hr operationFri 24th Dec Closed Closed 8.30am - 12.30pmWarehouse - 6:00am-12:00pmSat 25th Dec Christmas Day Christmas Day Christmas DaySun 26th Dec Boxing Day Boxing Day Boxing DayMon 27th Dec Bank Holiday Bank Holiday Bank HolidayWarehouse - 6:00am-2:00pmTues 28th Dec Bank Holiday Bank Holiday Bank HolidayWarehouse - 6:00am-2:00pmthen starting again at 10:00pmWed 29th Dec Closed 6.00am - 4.00pm 8.30am - 12.30pmWarehouse - 24 hr operationThur 30th Dec Closed 6.00am - 4.00pm 8.30am - 12.30pmWarehouse - 24 hr operationFri 31st Dec Closed 6.00am - 4.00pm 8.30am - 12.30pmWarehouse - finished 6:00amSat 1st Jan New Year’s Day New Year’s Day New Year’s DaySun 2nd Jan Closed Closed ClosedMon 3rd Jan Bank Holiday Bank Holiday Bank HolidayWarehouse - starting 6:00am,24 hr operationTues 4th Jan 24 hr operation 24 hr operation 8.00am - 6.00pmRigid set for further growthAston operation now wholly-owned and rebrandedRichard Coward, Managing Director, hasconfirmed that the company has finaliseddetails to acquire the remaining 35 percent share-holding in Rigid Aston held byChris and Tony Page, following theliquidation of Willowmart Ltd, (a companyowned by the Page family). Messrs Pageand Rigid Containers had previouslyannounced a joint venture, called RigidAston, which came into effect on 1stJanuary 2010. The joint venture companysupplied single face corrugated reels andsheets to the trade. Mr Coward explains, “Aswell as the remaining share-holding, wehave also acquired the machinery and stockfrom the Administrators of Willowmart. Themachinery includes some specialequipment used to manufacture ‘corrupad’heavy duty protection pieces. In addition tothe new services we will be able to offer, weare taking the opportunity to re-brand thedivision under the previous banner of RigidCharta, and the main line of products willnow be known as ‘Chartapad’.”Day to day running of the Rigid Chartafacility in Birmingham is now headed byDave Linton; the Sales office, which islocated at Rigid’s Selby facility, is headed byJulian Freeman. The new division’s websitecan be found at www.chartapad.co.uk — anew site that obviously is working well,judged by the fact we received severalorders within hours of going live!

news and views 3Helping others is a ‘perfect recipe’ for LauraLaura Harrison, one of our Trainee Graphic Artists at the Desborough site, sadly developed Leukaemia in March this year. She wasadmitted to the Lilford Ward at Kettering General Hospital shortly after the diagnosis, where she remained until July. She fought hardand the treatments worked, as she has now been in remission since, and we are delighted to see that she started back at work againrecently.As if a life-changing battle was not enough, Laura decided it would be a nice way to thank all the doctors and staff of the hospitalby undertaking a huge fund raising project with other members of her family. They sat down and thought about ways in which to raisemoney, and came up with an idea – they created a barbecue recipe book. Once it was ready, Laura and her family held a ‘book launch’coffee morning, the proceeds of which topped £2,000. This money was donated to the hospital and the funds were used to buy somewidescreen TVs for the patients’ area. “We have little hesitation in saying how proud we are of Laura for thinking of others during sucha traumatic time in her own life,” comments Richard Coward. “We are delighted to see her smiling face back in the office again andwish her all the best for continued health.”Laura is pictured here with her parents, Alan and Helen,presenting a cheque for £2,000 to nurse Sally Farrow.Wilson & Tasker Memorial Trophygolf competition is a successThe date was set and the entries were infor the second running of the Wilson &Tasker Memorial. The competition tookplace on Sunday 5th September atThorne Golf Club near Selby. Thecompetitors stayed dry with some fairweather, but with regular gusts of wind, itmade playing conditions challenging.The format for the competition wasStableford, off ¾ handicap.Graeme Jackson took the ‘nearest thepin’ competition on the eighth hole (162yard) with what can only be described as anamazing shot — he tee’d off with the ballsailing into the trees, only for the ball tobounce out of the trees to within 6 feet of thehole. Darren Crossland took the ‘nearest thepin’ competition on the sixteenth hole (145yard); with a very strong headwind, he putit to within 3 feet of the hole and managedto retain the bottle of whisky he had sokindly donated!In the end, it was a close foughtcompetition, but the honours went toGraeme Jackson who scored 40 points(playing off a 21 handicap). Specialthanks go to Paul Simpson for organisingthe event and to Darren Crossland fororganising the trophies — everyonecommented on how enjoyable the dayhad been and everyone looks forward tonext year.

4news and viewspeople news... people news... people news... people news...Lifetime of serviceWhen Jim Strachan retires on 31st December2010, it will be no fewer than 25 years sincehe joined Rigid. But it is not just the length ofservice that is impressive — more so is thefact that during that time, Jim has neverbeen late once, nor taken a day off sick!Below is a picture of Jim receiving amomento from Steve Roche, with ChrisMarshall, (shift manager - left) and DaveBarnes (right). We are all grateful for youryears’ of hard work Jim, enjoy yourretirement – you deserve it!Movember madnessMovember is now a fixture in the diary offund raisers for male related awareness,especially Prostate Cancer charities.Essentially, men are invited to grow amoustache in November, all the whilecollecting funds for the worthwhile charities.No fewer than 18 of our team fromDesborough took part this year, with somehilarious attempts at moustaches being‘groomed’! A picture and total amount raisedwill be published in our Spring newsletter.Watch this space.Baby newsWe’re delighted to report that ourManufacturing Improvement Manager, TonyMay, and his wife Nikki had a baby boy on28th September. Noah Jaden weighed in at 8lb3oz, and Tony tells us mum and baby are bothdoing well. Congratulations.Tying the knotThe wedding bells were chiming in Barbadoson 9th November. Niki Brown, our PlanningSupervisor, tied the knot with CorrugatorManager Robbie Iddon on the Caribbeanisland. Well done and best of wishes from usall.Exam resultsMany of the team have been busy, hitting thebooks and studying hard! Obviously, the hardwork has paid off. We’re delighted to confirmthat Allison Cameron, our Payroll Manager,received a distinction in her PayrollManagement Certificate exam. She tells us thatshe is now doing additional modules to gain afull diploma. Claire Medhurst is continuing tostudy hard, having passed the third module inthe Professional Certificate in Marketingqualification, receiving a B grade. Well doneindeed girls!Fitness fanaticsIt seems that we are being overrun by fitnessfanatics! We’ve had some of the teamout — running the Great North Run aswell as taking part in triathlon races.First up was Ersilia Gibbons from ourCustomer Services department, who ranthe Great North Run. She tells us, “Wecompleted the run in 2hours 21mins,the same time as last year, which wewere happy with when considering therubbish weather. We raised £600 forthe Guide Dogs for the BlindAssociation. Thanks to everyone for theirgenerosity. We’ve already signed up forthe event again next year!”Taking part in their first ever triathlon wereJulian Freeman, Andy Botterill and GrahamLeech (pictured below). The Three Spiresevent, which consisted of a 400m swim, 12mile bike ride and a 3 mile run, wasundertaken by the chaps on behalf of theBoparan Charitable Trust, for whom theyraised over £200. Each person did one of thelegs of the event. Not only did they finish in22nd position overall out of 220 teams, butthey actually came 1st in the team relayevent, which they were all very happy with.Well done boys, great effort!about usWho we areRigid Corrugated is part of VPK Packaging Group – one of the fastest growing independentEuropean manufacturers of recycled paper and corrugated cases with an annual turnover ofsome €480 million. Apart from the UK, it has a network of operating plants in Belgium,Holland, France, Poland and Romania.In recent years the Group, (which is listed on the Belgium stock exchange), has evolved froma product-focused organisation to a service organisation, concentrating on customers’specific needs in terms of tailored packaging solutions, supply chain optimisation andjust-in-time deliveries.Part of VPK since 2000, Rigid Containers has been an industry pioneer in meeting thedemands of the modern supply chain in the UK by introducing innovative, integratedmanufacturing and logistics facilities with large warehousing capabilities for an unrivalledoutstanding ex-stock service.Head Office:Rigid Containers LtdStoke Albany RoadDESBOROUGHKetteringNorthants NN14 2SRRigid Containers LtdDenison RoadSELBYNorth YorkshireYO8 8ANFor all sales enquiries, contactTel: 01536 760266 Fax: 01536 762714email: corrugated@rigid.co.uk