US greetings card giant invests in state-of-the-art facility in Yorkshire
lundi, 12 octobre 2009
International greetings cards group Hallmark Cards plc has invested £12.2m in a state-of-the-art warehousing and distribution facility in Yorkshire. Set to revolutionise the UK greeting cards sector it will give customers, including Yorkshire retail giants Asda and Morrisons, a more efficient service while also allowing for future growth.
The 200,000 sq ft facility is based at the company’s site in Bradford, marking further investment in the region. It was officially opened by David Hall, president and CEO of Hallmark Cards USA and grandson of founder, J.C. Hall.
A record number of overseas investments were made into Yorkshire over the last 12 months despite the onset of the global economic downturn, new figures have revealed.
There were 125 investments made into the region from overseas attracting over £661 million of private investment.
The United States was the region’s top investor for the second year, followed closely by Japan and firms from across Europe.
Hallmark Cards is the first greeting cards company in Europe to use such a bespoke facility which has been designed to increase capacity and productivity, more than doubling the current output to 30,000 packs of cards per hour.
David Hall said: “This new facility really is at the forefront of greeting’s card warehouse and distribution arenas and will make a significant impact on several areas of our business, improving efficiencies and increasing capacity across the board.
“The investment, especially during these challenging economic times, demonstrates our eagerness to remain a leader in our industry. It also highlights our continued and significant commitment to Bradford which is home to our UK head office.
“It was fantastic to be able to come here to see for myself these state-of-the-art facilities which will soon be making a huge difference to our business and that of our customers.”
Richard Campbell, group operations director at Hallmark Cards, said: “This has been a significant investment for us. We are confident we have developed a unique system that allows us to pick and distribute orders efficiently, providing the best possible value and service for our customers.
“What’s more, our increased capacity puts us in a strong position for future growth. Not only does it ensure we can fulfil the growing needs of our customers, it also allows us the room to expand creatively as a business by developing new product lines, and so helping us to maintain our market leading position.”
With the hi-tech, computer controlled system, each order is allocated a unique barcode which provides all key information, from the amount of stock required to bespoke labelling and packaging requirements. This barcode is then scanned onto an individual order carton so it can be easily monitored to ensure it only goes to the required zones, providing total accuracy.