EXCLUSIVE
WEST Belfast packaging firm Delta strengthened its links with Poland yesterday when it formally opened a new 110,000 sq ft litho printing factory near Katowice, providing jobs for around100 people.
Delta, which makes cartons for clients including some of the world's best known food giants like McDonald's, KFC and Kellogg's, has set up in a special economic zone in Gliwice (population 200,000).
It has set up a major green field operation called European Packaging Solutions (EPS), which will use innovative production technologies to support Delta's supply chain across Europe.
Delta, established in 1981 by entrepreneur Terry Cross above a corner grocery store in Belfast to print business cards, already employs 45 Poles at its Kennedy Way plant.
The company has enjoyed a stellar growth spurt in recent years, and last October opened a new 55,000 sq ft factory extension in Belfast which houses one of Europe's most advanced carton manufacturing environments, providing flexible, high-speed productivity.
Last year Delta, whose blue chip client list also includes Nike, Nokia and United Biscuits, turned in a gross profit of £12.8 million on a turnover just shy of £40 million - a 32 per cent margin.
Even its bottom-line profit of £4.8 million, which was more than twice what it posted in 2013, represented a 12 per cent margin.
Interestingly, the company's corporation tax bill in 2014 almost tripled from £314,139 to £852,436, though there will be only be a limited saving in Poland, where the rate is 19 per cent, just a single percentage point lower than the UK.
Delta employs more than 250 people in Belfast and pumps nearly £7.5 million a year in wages into the city.
It also has 400 staff in India, where it has two factories, and 4,000 workers at eight operations in China. It also has a plant in South Korea.
Mr Cross says the Gliwice production plant will serve the Baltic countries and those within the EU.
He said: "We will manufacture biodegradable disposable fibre-based packing for the retail food, food service, beverages, confectionary, household goods and electronic consumer products sector."
At present more than 90 per cent of Delta's business is done outside Northern Ireland for key markets in Britain, Scandinavia, France, India, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal.
As well as significantly contributing to the economy through offering employment to hundreds of people both within the company and throughout its supply chain network, Delta has also been a keen supporter of better education, cross-community initiatives and charity organisations.
Earlier this year it established a CSR committee made up of staff from various departments within the organisation to bring a more strategic approach to the activities it is engaged in around people, planet, place and marketplace responsibility.
“Our objective is to make Delta a better place to work for our staff, a fantastic stakeholder to work alongside and a responsible citizen in the community in which we operate," Mr Cross said.
"Fundamental to all our operations is our investment in reducing our impact on the environment and we have invested significantly to manage our resources and outputs efficiently. We have also helped developed ground-breaking solutions to improving the sustainability of the products we produce."
