Title: Royal opening for Leeds factory
Publication: Packaging Scotland
Date: January 2005-04-07
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A new 80,000 sq ft factory to house Roberts Mart and Co Ltd, provider of printing and converting of flexible packaging, was opened by His Royal Highness The Duke of York last October. The £8.75m purpose-built factory is located in the Thornes Business Park, Leeds, and is described as the largest investment in the Aire Valley are to date. It secures the jobs of more than 120 staff. The building comprises a single-storey factory with 20,000 sq ft of office space on two floors.
John Roberts, managing director of Roberts Mart, said, “I was delighted that the Duke was able to spare the time in his busy schedule to come and open the new factory. It was a wonderful event for everyone involved.”
Roberts directed the Duke of York on a tour of the new premises, viewing the offices, the factory, goods in production and its newly purchased machines. The company produces bags for household textiles such as duvets, quilts and pillows, as well as shopping bags and kitchen bags.
The factory houses the recently purchased gearless sleeved flexographic printing machine, which has 10 colour printing capability. The 26S 8+2 was supplied by the German manufacturer Fischer & Krecke, Roberts Mart has also recently acquired an RTO – regeneration thermal oxidiser – which deals with the solvent based fumes extracted from the printing machine, to comply with modern environmental emissions regulations.
“We’ve now got a factory that we can expand,” said Ken Ellis, Roberts Mart’s finance director. “We’ve just invested £2m in a new press which enables us to so a very high quality print, and to access new markets. It gives us that extra edge.”
In addition to the improvements in quality that the new technology and expanded premises afford, turnaround will be improved, Ellis says. “We’re geared to be able to do a quick turnaround for our customers. People want a short lead-time. And they can come in and see us here, and discuss new designs. We’ve got a studio downstairs; we’ve got qualified people down there; we can bring in other experts if we need to. For the new ink technology coming on, for example – we can provide the right product for our customers, both new and old.”
The size of the new factory means that the current technology can be expanded when required, Ellis says. “There’s no limit on our capabilities at the moment. We see a lot of growth here. The new printer alone has given us that. And the factory is large enough to accommodate future machinery.”

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