News

Nene Packaging, the screen-printed corrugated box supplier, has obtained funding from a new bank, following the intervention of its local member of parliament.

Nene's previous bank had withdrawn its credit facility that released money up front, which managing director Rob Lugmayer said was a reaction to Entertainment UK, Woolworth's distribution arm and a Nene customer, calling in the administrators.

Lugmayer said that, despite banks talking about lending money under the enterprise finance guarantee scheme, it had been forced to look for a new lender, which made it even more difficult.

"It needed the involvement of my MP and one of the new bank's directors to convince the underwriters," he told Packaging News. "We've got a healthy order book, but we needed the money to enable us to concentrate on being a successful business."

Despite successfully securing the funding, Lugmayer said firms were still having difficulty obtaining credit and called on them to put pressure on banks. "You've got to knuckle down and use pressure to save your business," he said.

Nene, which was set up in 1994, supplies screen-printed corrugated boxes for point-of-sale display. Lugmayer and his wife bought the firm in a management buyout five years ago.