Packaging delivered across Lichfield and Staffordshire from WSUK's Midlands stock. Businesses on Fradley Park, Britannia Enterprise Park, Trent Valley and the smaller units around them are supplied off the same stock as Tamworth and Cannock, which is part of why run quantities work even for a single unit.
Lichfield's industrial estates and business parks
An estate address is the only one that matters for packaging, because that is where the bench is. In Lichfield that means Fradley Park, Britannia Enterprise Park and Trent Valley rather than anywhere with a postcode a customer would recognise, and the practical question is whether a delivery arrives before the tape runs out.
The estates around Lichfield - Fradley Park, Britannia Enterprise Park and Trent Valley among them - sit against A38, A5, A5127, M6 Toll (T5) and M42 (J9), and that road access is the whole reason the units are there. It is also why resupply into WS13-WS14 off central Midlands stock is straightforward rather than something that needs planning.
Most businesses on Fradley Park and Trent Valley have never had their packaging looked at as a whole, because there has never been an obvious moment to do it. The line list grows, the sizes stay, and the cost sits in several places at once rather than anywhere visible.
The estates around Lichfield are mostly small and medium units, and that shapes the packaging problem. Space is the binding constraint rather than price: the better buy is almost always the longer run, and the longer run is exactly what a unit on Fradley Park or Britannia Enterprise Park has no room for.
WSUK's nearest operation to Lichfield is Lutterworth, around 45 minutes away. In practice that means the packaging for a Lichfield business is already made and already in a building before the order is placed, so a reorder is a delivery rather than a lead time.
What businesses on Fradley Park and Britannia Enterprise Park tend to buy
What a unit orders follows what it despatches rather than what trade it is in. On a Lichfield estate it tends to look like this.
| Unit type | What it despatches | What it usually buys |
|---|---|---|
| Print or signage business | Flat and rolled work | Book wraps, rigid tubes, board tops, edge protection |
| Online retailer or fulfilment unit | Parcels, daily, at volume | Postal boxes, mailers, void fill, printed tape |
| Trade counter or merchant | Collected and local delivery | Heavy duty sacks and cases, strapping, stretch film |
| Electronics or instrument maker | Sensitive assemblies | Anti-static foam and bags, fitted inserts, cushioned outers |
| Service or installation business | Kit out to site and back | Reclosable cases, durable labelling, protective film |
| Light manufacturing | Mixed parcel and pallet | Short ladder of double wall outers, protective range, tape |
Typical unit types on a Lichfield estate and what each tends to need.
Full ranges for each of those sit under packaging supplies and packaging services in Lichfield.
What we supply into Lichfield
A trade account into Lichfield covers the whole bench rather than just the boxes.
- Postal and ecommerce formats - mailers, letterbox packs, book wraps and padded envelopes. See postal and parcel packaging.
- Foam - sheet, convoluted, profiled and pocketed inserts, including anti-static grades. See foam packaging.
- Strapping and load protection - polypropylene, PET and steel strapping, corner boards and edge protection. See industrial packaging.
- Cartons and cases - single and double wall, postal boxes, heavy duty and triple wall where weight demands it. See packaging supplies.
- Tape and sealing - polypropylene, vinyl and paper tape in hand and machine widths, plus dispensers. See custom printed tape for printed.
- Films and stretch wrap - stretch film, shrink film and barrier film, specified by gauge and containment force rather than by roll.
Getting it delivered, and not running out
Businesses in Tamworth, Cannock and Burton upon Trent are supplied from the same Midlands stock as Lichfield, which is part of why run quantities are practical here. The economics of a print plate or a cutting form do not depend on one unit consuming the whole run inside a quarter.
The mechanics of that are on packaging stockholding, and packaging stockholding in Lichfield covers it for Lichfield specifically.
One account instead of four suppliers
A box that is slightly too big is paying twice - once for the board and again for the volume a carrier charges for - and that is not recoverable by negotiation. It is recoverable by getting the fit right, which is a specification job rather than a purchasing one.
If you want that looked at properly rather than quoted like-for-like, a packaging review examines materials, storage, carriage, labour, damage and waste together.
The short version
- Standard lines come off existing stock; printed and bespoke lines are worth holding because they carry a real lead time.
- The usual finding is a range that is too long rather than a price that is too high.
- One account covers outers, protection, print, bespoke work and pallet consumables.
- Shortening the line list usually buys more than negotiating on any single item in it.
Frequently asked questions
We have no room to store packaging. What are the options?
Call-off. The economic run is produced once, held in Midlands warehousing and released into WS13-WS14 as your bench consumes it. You get the run-quantity price without putting pallets of board on a floor you need for stock.
Do we need a trade account?
It is the simplest way to run it, because it puts outers, protection, print, bespoke work and pallet consumables on one account and one invoice rather than four. Ask on the enquiry form and we will set it out.
Can you deliver to more than one unit?
Yes. Several units on the same estate, or units across Lichfield, Tamworth and Cannock, can be supplied on one account with deliveries split between them.
Can a small unit buy at trade quantities?
Yes. Standard lines are supplied in trade quantities without a fixed minimum order. For printed or bespoke work, which genuinely does come in run quantities, packaging stockholding is what makes it practical for a unit with limited floor space.
Can you look at what we currently buy?
Send the line list with rough usage against each item. That is usually enough to show whether the opportunity is a better specification, a shorter range of sizes, or simply buying the same things in a quantity that prices properly. See packaging review and cost reduction.