Forum Packaging goes solar

Forum Packaging Ltd in Horncastle will be harnessing the sun to power its machinery after it installed a solar farm on its site.  The Company has invested £230,000 in the project to site over 900 panels at its base of operations in the town.

The 243kWp system, installed by Stow-based Freewatt, will generate estimated income and savings of more than £40,000 each year – with a payback period, including tax benefits, of just four years.

More than £1 million in savings and income will be generated by the ground-mounted panels over their lifetime.

The project utilises cutting-edge technology, developed by Freewatt, allowing the system to stand-alone from the National Grid. All of the electricity generated will be used by Forum in its packaging and printing facility.

The company, which has a turnover of £9 million and employs 73 people, prints and converts more than 60 million sacks and bags every year.

The manufacture of paper bags started at Forum’s Mareham Road base more than 50 years ago when the original business was founded by the Cornish family – the owners of the Linpac group. The business was the subject of a management buy-out in 2011 when current managing director, Mark Spivey and finance director, Rob Massey, bought the company from DS Smith.

The award-winning company is widely respected as one of the leading packaging companies in the UK supplying all types of paper sacks into a wide variety of market sectors – from chemical and cement companies to animal feed and the food industry.

Managing director of Forum, Mark Spivey said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to start generating our own energy to power our factory. This is one of the final pieces of the eco-jigsaw at Forum”

“It means our manufacturing process is both greener and more cost effective. We are creating a legacy and level of sustainability for the business that is both attractive to our customers and lays down the foundations for another successful 25 years of manufacture.”

Freewatt CEO Julian Patrick said: “It’s always nice to work with a companies that has been a key part of our county’s economic heritage and future.