Tony Walding (Leeways) and Barry Chapman (NatWest)
Cheltenham, January 2009: Local thermoforming packaging company Leeways Packaging Services Ltd is hoping to grow with an increase in annual turnover of 12 per cent in the coming year, having secured a new funding package from NatWest.
Leeways was established in 1961 by the Walding family and continues to operate today by the founder's eldest son Tony Walding, now Chairman, along with his son Lee. Operating from its head office in Churcham, in the Forest of Dean, Leeways supplies Thermoformed Packaging to the food industry across the UK. The business employs 80 staff and serves customers that range from small, local businesses to large, well-known names which include Northern Foods, Dairy Crest, Thorntons and Lees of Scotland.
Leeways has secured new contracts for 2009, which will require considerably higher output volumes, and was seeking further funding from its banking partner NatWest in order to meet the increased demand. Tony worked closely with his Relationship Manager at NatWest, Barry Chapman, and the bank provided a bespoke facility - a threefold increase of its existing finance - which includes a funding package from Lombard, the leasing arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland, which NatWest is also a part of. Lombard provided a loan which has allowed the business to lease the equipment and machinery required to service the additional contracts.
The Leeways team's plans for the future are to create a new state of the art 30,000 sq ft warehouse facility at its site at Churcham enabling the company to bring all of its activities under one roof, which in turn will help to create further employment into the area.
The company currently operates in most sectors of the food industry such as bakeries, confectionary, fish and red meats. The UK market for thermoformed packaging is circa £350million, and Leeways enjoys a considerable share of this market sector and is looking to further establish its position over the coming years though its considered growth plans.
Leeways has enjoyed a long term relationship with NatWest, having its full banking facilities with the bank since 1987 and NatWest has provided a series of funding packages throughout this period to support the continued success of the business.
Tony Walding , Chairman of Leeways commented:
"The new contracts are going to strengthen the business next year and further enhance our reputation in the market place.
The additional capacity created will enable us to look forward into 2009 with confidence. I am grateful for the assistance I
have received from Barry and his team at NatWest, who continue to provide innovative finance solutions to enable our growth
strategy to come into effect."
Barry Chapman, Senior Manager, NatWest, Cheltenham commented:
"I am delighted for the Leeways team, which is an example of a real family business success story and I am confident that
Tony and his sons will continue to take the company forward. By really understanding the needs of the business I have been able
to provide tailored finance solutions that are bespoke to its needs. I look forward to continuing working with Leeways as it
strives to achieve its goals and aspirations."
For further information please contact
Caroline Hill
Media Manager, The Royal Bank of Scotland
Tel: + 44 (0) 7796 182703
Caroline.j.hill@rbs.co.uk
Notes to Editors
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group:
The RBS Group is one of the world's leading financial services companies
providing a range of retail and corporate banking, financial markets, consumer finance, insurance, and wealth management
services. RBS Group operates in over 50 countries across Europe, the Americas,
Asia and the Middle East serving more than 40 million customers and employing more than 170,000 people. The Group's brands include
RBS,
NatWest,
Ulster Bank,
Coutts,
Citizens and many other "household name" financial services companies.
