WoodenboxUK: 2014

Porter and Woodman Turns the Winter Blues Green!

As part of Porter and Woodman’s ongoing investment in a greener future, the recent refurbishment of its Stourbridge premises included the purchase of a Biomass Waste Burning System.

The aim of this investment was to improve the carbon neutrality and efficiency of the business, adding to its existing environmental policy, which includes efficient waste management and the sourcing of FSC materials for its wide range of products.

The biomass burner has contributed greatly to this ambition, taking wood waste that would have gone to landfill and turning it into energy to heat the 10,000 sq. ft production facilities through the winter months.

The Group’s two main manufacturing businesses, Chalkboards UK and WoodenBox UK benefit from the new installation as they produce over 400 Kg of wood waste daily between them. It means that 104 Tonnes of waste a year is not going to landfill - the equivalent of over 130 Mini cars every year; and no gas is being used to heat the facilities in the colder months.

The elimination of landfill, reduction in the use of gas and the fact that the biomass burner complies with the latest Government emission regulations, means that Porter and Woodman Group is well on its way to achieving carbon neutrality and is looking to the future for the company and the environment as a whole.

If you would like any more information about the Biomass burner or Porter and Woodman's environmental policies, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01384 445844 or e-mail sales@porterandwoodman.co.uk

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Festive Products Made from Wood...

Christmas decorations 06:49

As a manufacturer of wooden packaging, WoodenBox UK can get asked to produce some unusual products from time-to-time.

Bristol based designers, Boodle, did just that when they asked us to produce some simple circular shapes for them out of plywood. Boodle has its own screen-printing facility and printed these unique Christmas designs on the blanks to create a colourful range of decorations and badges for the festive season.

Boodle is a Bristol based designer, creating hand screen printed T-shirts, art prints, cards and a range of home wares. Always using sustainable materials such as organic cotton and eco-friendly inks where possible, ensuring a high quality product. Boodle is open to commissions such as wedding invites, bespoke designs and other exciting projects. You can find out more about their work by clicking here.

For more information on WoodenBox UK, visit our website, e-mail sales@woodenboxuk.com or give us a call on 01384 445844.

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Porter and Woodman gets a makeover

chalkboards uk 02:01

The Stourbridge head office of Porter & Woodman Group; the home of Chalkboards UK, WoodenBox UK, Wine & Hamper Gifts and Print Services UK; is well under way with its building refurbishment.

Coming hot on the heels of a new £50,000 CNC woodworking machine back in April (see our earlier blog), the four month building project is the second part of Porter & Woodman’s 2014 infrastructure investment.

Being carried out in association with Kingswinford property company, LCP, the total external refurbishment of the Porter & Woodman Group Head Office and manufacturing division sees a new roof, new windows and doors, new external cladding and total yard replacement.

Sales Director, Mike Hodgetts, says, “It’s tough having all this work going on around a busy company and we can’t wait to get our premises back. However, we realised when we got flooded for the fourth time in 12 months that we had to bring the roof and gutters up to scratch to deal with flash floods and the changing weather conditions. Making all the other improvements at the same time just seemed the obvious thing to do.”

The building improvements will also considerably enhance the thermal efficiency of the premises, helping to fulfil the Group’s long-term environmental aims.

The final phase of the company’s 2014 programme comes in September when a brand new storage and packing facility is opened just across the way on the same Mill Race Lane Estate.

Porter & Woodman remains one of the largest employers in the Stourbridge area and has taken on a further four employees in the past six weeks, pushing its personnel up to almost fifty.

For more information on the services that Porter & Woodman offer, please do not hesitate to call us on 01384 445844.

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New Hi-Tech CNC Investment

bespoke packaging design 03:30

At WoodenBox UK, we've just welcomed the first part of our £100,000 investment in new machinery.

The arrival of a second CNC Router allows us to double the capacity in production, enabling us to keep up with existing orders and take on work from new customers.

Our Sales Director, Mike Hodgetts, said, “I’m delighted with the new machine which came online this week. Productivity began to bottleneck towards the end of last year, but now we can go out and look for new orders with confidence.”
The new machine also helps guarantee jobs for our expanding workforce, that climbed through 40 personnel in December.

Manager of the CNC machine shop, Colin (Fred) Inchley - pictured here with operative Dave Radford - says he’s thrilled with the new machine, which is quicker and more efficient. When asked about his new toy Fred said, “It’s great news that the company is expanding and able to offer new manufacturing jobs - there aren’t many of those around these days.”

WoodenBox UK is part of the Porter & Woodman Group, which is one of the largest employers in the Stourbridge area. The Group has gone from strength-to-strength in the past few years and we attribute this ongoing success to our customer centred sales and production teams.

If you would like any more information about our production facilities and products, or would even like to come and take a look for yourself, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01384 445844 or e-mail sales@porterandwoodman.co.uk

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Rustic Wooden Crate Displays

bespoke point-of-sale 02:10

WoodenBox UK's rustic wooden crates have been making it into some diverse places recently. From exhibitions to retail displays and even into the the National Press!

Pictured to the right are some of our wooden seed trays being used as a coffee display at an exhibition at the NEC Birmingham.

Below, there's pictures of retail displays at Webbs of Wychbold, a Union Jack crate displaying crisps at the LG Birmingham and another one for St. Martin's Coffee.

We've now launched a WoodenBox UK Pinterest channel to post all of these innovative ways of using our great looking crates. There'll be more pics added every week, so please follow the pinboards to get any inspiration you might need for your own uses for our crates.

If you have any ideas on what we can make for your business, or even your home, please feel free to give us a call on 01384 445844 or e-mail us on sales@woodenboxuk.com.