Sonoco Trident completes multi-million pound acquisition
GLOBAL brand management firm Sonoco Trident has completed a multi-million pound acquisition as it looks forward to its most successful year of growth yet.
The thriving East Yorkshire business provides packaging for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, SC Johnson, Boots, Coca-Cola, The Body Shop, Reckitt Benckiser, McDonald’s and its most recent client win, L’Oreal.
Sonoco Trident has acquired Nottinghamshire-based Imagelinx, for more than £2.1m, which brings an extra 100 staff to the team of 500, will allow it to tap into new markets and gain new clients. The Hull digital packaging solutions business now expects to see 100% growth this year.
Trident is a division of parent company Sonoco, the $4.2bn US packaging firm.
Joint founder of Trident, David Keel, launched the business with Bob Carroll 20 years ago.
He said: “The acquisition gives us a really good spread and allows us to access a wider market.
“We’ve grown at least 20% year on year – it has been phenomenal. But this year we think we will see 100% growth. This is something to be proud of.
“We tend to add a new brand every year and this year, we have won the multi-million pound brand, L’Oreal.
“The business has been far bigger than we ever expected. It has been very successful.”
Imagelinx’s offices are mainly in Mansfield, with others in Milton Keynes, Paris and Glasgow.
The business deals with packaging for products in the £20-£200 market, whereas Sonoco Trident works with products in the £20 and under range.
Sonoco Trident has offices in Singapore, China, Canada and the US and said its continued growth has been due to redefining itself to become a digital business, rather than simply an artwork company.
“The data you create while making your product is extremely valuable and we use this data to discover more ways to show the product,” Mr Keel said.
“The most exciting opportunity going forward now is the recycling of our artwork data for uses on the web, iPhones and iPads.”
Mr Keel said one of the firm’s biggest opportunities is moving towards using screens to highlight the product, so for example, opening a bottle and having a short video on the inside of the packaging. He highlighted screens on supermarket trolleys and advertising screens in petrol stations as digital advancements the firm can become involved with. He said the business is “years ahead” of competitors in this field.
“If we can do all of this clever stuff now, who knows what can happen in the future?” he said.
He has also highlighted the work the firm is already doing to help change the way online shopping is done by creating “4D” “movies” of the products.
Sonoco Trident employs around 200 people at its Hull site – part of the staff of 500 worldwide.
Mr Keel said the flourishing business, which has recently invested £500,000 in a new state-of-the-art printer, is currently in talks with a company in India, as it looks to tap into the emerging middle class market there.
He said: “I think India is already showing signs readiness for its own brands and that is where I think customers are.”
Mr Keel is also the chairman of C4DI – Hull’s prospective £13m digital business complex which currently has its experimental build up and running.
