Leominster firm will rise from the ashes (From Hereford Times)

Leominster firm will rise from the ashes

12:00pm Thursday 25th June 2009 in

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SURVEYING the site where it all began some 20 years ago, bosses at Skymark Packaging were already busy thinking of a way forward as their plant burned to the ground.

The privately-owned firm started with 18 workers in 1988, but rapidly expanded and now employs around 250 people at plants in Herefordshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

But with its administrative hub and more than 100 employees in Leominster hit by the fire, sister sites in Ilkeston and Scunthorpe are now preparing to take the strain while local workers are forced to consider the possibility of temporary relocation.

Speaking at the scene, managing director John Turner said while the Southern Avenue site had “burned to the ground”, fortunately, most of the paperwork forming Skymark’s infrastructure had been salvaged and, as such, recovery systems were already being put into place.

“That means the Ilkeston office now becomes the head office,” he said. “All critical staff, like sales, have moved there.”

In addition, temporary premises for accounts and office staff to continue working in Leominster have also been secured, while the smaller production plants at Scunthorpe and Ilkeston will step up operations wherever possible.

Mr Turner said he wanted to reassure everybody that a re-opening was planned as soon as those in charge had taken time to “gather breath”. He also apologised to nearby residents and businesses who may have been disrupted.

“We have a highly skilled workforce so, from our perspective, the last thing we want to do is not have people working,” he said.