Following the sale of its successful shop fitting business in the USA and a string of UK petrol stations, the focus at Stamford Group (Stalybridge / UK; www.stamford-products.co.uk) is now on its plastics operations, moulding and compounding. The injection and rotational moulding business – once known as WCB Containers before undergoing a management buy-out from the Guinness Group in 1982 – primarily is based on the supply of materials handling products to the healthcare, food & beverage, educational and industrial markets. The “Micropol” compounding operation produces specialist thermoplastic compounds and powders and also provides a range of specialist services that include toll compounding, batch blending and micro-grinding.

On 1 March this year Stamford acquired Pro-tec (Hyde, Cheshire / UK), an injection moulding business with six machines and a GBP 1m (EUR 1.2m) turnover. The business has been incorporated into Stamford’s Stalybridge site and has provided a balance of injection moulding machine sizes from 40 t up to 1,300 t clamp. In total, Stamford now has 13 injection moulding machines and four rotational moulding machines. This year has also seen an investment of some GBP 0.75m (EUR 0.9m) in new tooling, particularly for new and upgraded products for the UK market.

Stamford Group expects a turnover of GBP 15m (EUR 18m) in its current financial year, of which 30-40% will be accounted for by exports. Most of the trade outside the UK is in mainland Europe although the group hopes to grow further in North America and the Middle East. Export sales are supported by offices and warehouses in Dublin / Ireland and Cologne / Germany. There is a staff of 190.

Both proprietary and custom products, essentially boxes of one type or another, are manufactured, normally in MDPE when rotationally moulded and PP and HDPE when injection moulded. Stamford’s own “Mailbox” series is used across a range of markets, while its “Medstor” line-up is aimed particularly at healthcare applications. Managing director Stephen Dubyl says there used to be too much dependence on the medical market but a move into retail logistics and general industry has provided a broader, better structured business. If retail applications continue to increase, Dubyl expects group turnover to reach GBP 17-18m (EUR 20.4 - 21.6m) within two years.