COVER STORY
Independent, Integrated, Innovative
Established in 1976, this UK-based business has developed steadily over nearly 40 years to reach its current position of being the third largest away from home (AfH) manufacturer of disposable paper products by volume and turnover in the country.
Today, still proudly independent and family owned, Northwood continues to focus exclusively on the UK market, led by a highly experienced senior management team that understands the needs and challenges of the sector.
Absorbing the various businesses such as Peter Grant and Connect Hygiene into the new regime was done steadily and with much care so as to keep customer disruption to an absolute minimum. Management structures are enviably short, with decision making correspondingly quick, and the four key operations are now successfully integrated into the business. They are set to deliver the quality, support, flexibility and reliability that make Northwood the key chain supply partner for anyone involved in the disposable paper business in this country.
Northwood Recycling collects both pre and post-consumer waste paper that is delivered to their two mills: Northwood Tissue Lancaster and Northwood Tissue Disley. Here the various grades of tissue and towel mother reels are manufactured with a minimum 85% post-consumer content. Northwood Hygiene Products – at both Penygroes in North Wales and Telford – is then responsible for the converting and
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manufacture of the paper hygiene products that result in the well-known and successful brands of Leonardo, Whisper, Perform and Essentials, as well as some selected private label products. Finally, the warehousing and distribution that is vital to the smooth running of an operation of this size is taken care of by Telford-based Northwood Logistics.
This planned, controlled and efficient integration allows the balances and checks that are essential to ensure that consistent product quality is maintained to customer advantage. A fact further reinforced by the CHSA accreditation.
When environmental issues are an especially high customer priority then they can be content that they have done as much as is currently possible due to the fact that Northwood has been awarded the Ecolabel certification. It means that the whole lifecycle of the product has been assessed. For Northwood it begins with trees or recycled paper, through the manufacturing process, packaging and distribution and on to the end of life cycle when the product is disposed of or recycled.
This is not a self-congratulatory industry scheme. The assessment is carried out by independent qualified scientists involving both certification and compliance, and as such is trusted by both consumers and customers. To gain the certification the manufacturing process of certain key suppliers has been revised and refined to minimise environmental impact. Gaining this
With the Cleaning Show now almost upon us, Northwood Hygiene give us an insight into their impressive history and walk us through the products that will be on show at Stand D15.
accreditation is not seen as another box being ticked, but rather the result of a determined management initiative to further deliver outstanding customer support that complements both the Food Safety Certification and ISO 9001 standards that have also been achieved.
With all the divisions now fully integrated and fully operational, the opportunity to take advantage of the enhanced resource and global reach has encouraged further product innovation. The existing Perform brand, once an established brand in the Peter Grant offer, has been refreshed in order to deliver a new and exciting range of wipes that are intended to create cost saving efficiencies by more accurately matching wiper to task. Research carried out by Perform has shown that apart from some truly specialised manufacturing sectors, and sectors where wiping is not an issue of any significant consequence, there is a wide swathe of British industry where wiping is either being over or under specified.
Whichever way it is, it constitutes a waste of money that can and should be avoided. The new Perform range
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