South Wales co-operative wins prestigious employee ownership award

Ebbw Vale based worker co-operative Primepac Solutions Ltd has won the prestigious Productivity and Performance Award at the national Employee Ownership Conference in Birmingham. The firm, which contract packs a range of materials such as cleaning products, tablets and beauty products at its site on the Rassau Industrial Estate was nominated for the award which is intended to showcase the most dramatic and powerful example of an employee owned organisation driving up levels of productivity to deliver improved performance, and leading to exemplary outcomes in a particular field. Primepac Solutions is a wholly employee owned company of 22 people with a turnover that has increased from £370k in 2006 to £3.8million in 2012.

Primepac was formed when its parent company decided to withdraw from Wales following a major fire which destroyed its packing facilities. When the news broke that the company was not going to reinvest in the area, a group of employees contacted the Wales Co-operative Centre who provided legal and business planning advice and helped the company access funding. The co-operative now offers 27000 ft2 of production floor, workshops, laboratory, storage and office space and the capacity to manufacture over 50 million sachets and fill over 9 million bottles per year along with strip and blister pack capsule packs.

The firms Managing Director Steve Meredith was delighted to receive the award, “This award is recognition that Primepac Solutions is a successful business that is driven by the commitment and input of its owner / employees and is a successful co-operative business thriving in difficult trading conditions against other more traditional business approaches”.

Wales Co-operative Centre Employee Ownership expert Rhian Edwards commented, “Primepac is proof that employee ownership works. Its 22 owner employees have a vested stake in the business and can see their input and efforts rewarded. We are delighted that Primepac has achieved this recognition and wish them every success in the future”

The Philip Baxendale Awards are the UK's only dedicated celebration of excellence in employee ownership and are now in their sixth year. The awards reward individuals and organisations excelling in the employee ownership and mutuals sector. The awards provide a platform for celebrating what is increasingly recognised as a better way of doing business. The range of awards cover the positive outcomes often seen in employee ownership – these include employee engagement, innovation and productivity.

The 2012 award ceremony opened the Employee Ownership Association's (EOA) 2012 Annual Conference at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole on 14th November.