Wiltshire Packaging specialist GWP Group are on course for their best ever year with sales well ahead of expectations.

The company has been performing strongly since 2012, when the firm first saw the beginnings of a recovery from the recession, with sales increasing around 10% a year. “What is especially pleasing is that the growth is coming from all industries, right across the board,” says David Pedley, the company’s chief executive. “We are a great barometer of the state of the economy; as all manufactured products need to be safely transported to customers.”

But the success is not all down to an improving economy. GWP have also won a larger slice of their markets and David is very optimistic about further increasing market share. “We wanted to make sure we were well known when things picked up,” said David. “During the recession we decided to invest in keeping our public profile high and the strategy has paid off, we now regularly appear in the media commentating on business and manufacturing matters and we know this has helped bring us to the attention of new audiences.”

Another reason behind GWP’s success is the expansion and diversification of the company’s product range. From purely a manufacturer of corrugated board products 25 years ago the business has grown into five distinct divisions providing a spectrum of innovative and bespoke packaging products. “We now supply a vast range of industries, such as automotive, defence, FMCG, logistics and IT/electronics, with corrugated board products, specialist coated boxes and bespoke protective cases,” said David. “We’re looking at new markets all the time and are actively working on producing new ranges to solve packaging problems. We see massive opportunities for growth coming from this diversification.”

GWP products do crop up in some unlikely places. Cardboard boxes have been spotted on TV programmes, a bespoke case helped get an Olympian’s bike to the Games and the BBC has buried a case as a time capsule in GWP’s home county of Wiltshire. “But the job we are most proud of,” says David, “is that Prince Harry and his Walking with the Wounded team used GWP supplied cases when they trekked to the South Pole. I’m glad to say the cases performed splendidly!”

For more information about GWP see www.gwp.co.uk