Jaymac Solutions, a North East family firm, is creating new jobs after securing a £2.2m funding deal to fuel growth. The company, which launched its pallet and packaging operations in 1997, now operates six sites across the region, including Gateshead, Newcastle, Washington, Teesside Airport and Faverdale near Darlington.
£2.2m funding package from Lloyds
The funding package from Lloyds includes a £1.52m loan and a £681,000 business loan and asset finance facility. It will lead to the creation of eight new jobs. The latest site, a 30,000 sq ft warehouse next to its existing Washington operation, will allow the company to bring the manufacture of timber pallets and crates for export customers in house. The Washington site recycles and repairs between 12,000 and 15,000 pallets every week.
Growth from Team Valley origins
Bosses said the last 29 years have seen the firm grow beyond all recognition from its original operation, which was to provide pallets to traders selling fruit and vegetables from a unit at Team Valley in the 1990s. The company now offers a range of services including warehousing and logistics for a number of big high street names, along with specialist foam fabrication. Earlier this year, Jaymac Solutions moved into a site at Teesside Airport to provide warehousing, packaging and fulfilment solutions for the air freight industry.
Celebration at Ramside Hall
The continued growth of the company and its ambitious future plans were celebrated at a special event at Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa near Durham, where invited guests also heard from a range of funders on ways their individual businesses could be helped and were the first to see the company’s new brand.
Wes Thompson, managing director at Jaymac Solutions, said the secret to the company’s continued success was in asking customers how they can help them. He added: “Our business has grown through relationships. Someone giving us that first opportunity. A customer trusting us with a little more responsibility. A supplier helping us out when we needed it. Someone making an introduction that opened a door.
“Over time, those opportunities have helped us build a broader business. A conversation about pallets becomes a conversation about packaging, then storage, transport or managing a customer’s returns. Before you know it, ‘I think we can help with that’ has become quite a substantial job list.”
Some of the new funding will be invested in heat-treatment capability, which means the company can manufacture, heat treat and store pallets all in one location. Mr Thompson added: “Across the business, our offer brings together pallets, packaging, storage, recovery and logistics support. The common thread is simple: understand what our customers need, get involved and do a good job. Our new Jaymac branding reflects the business we are becoming and the confidence we have in its future.”
