£2.2 Million CBILS Facility Shapes the Future of Paper Straws
The Opportunity
Transcend Packaging is a global leader in sustainable packaging and the first major producer of paper straws in the UK. Disrupting the packaging category, Transcend was launched in 2017 and is already Europe’s largest producer of paper drinking straws and provides a range of sustainable products including cartons, cups, and takeaway food packaging.
Transcend partners with major international brands to enhance the sustainability of their packaging and was recently recognised in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 ‘Ones to Watch’ list and has won numerous awards for sustainability, growth, and quality.
The Challenge
Transcend began discussions with Haydock on asset financing as they looked to scale production to meet rising demand driven by regulatory changes across the globe. With a wave of new legislation being introduced such as the European Single-Use Plastics Directive, businesses are now making the shift from plastic to sustainable alternatives in certain packaging categories.
One pressing challenge created by this regulation is to find a replacement for on-pack plastic straws for aseptic cartons by July 2021 which is why Transcend created its Industrial StrawTM solution. Transcend’s Industrial StrawTM is a direct replacement which allows customers to replace their existing poly-propylene U-bend or I-straws with a sustainable alternative with no or minimal adjustments to their existing packing equipment. The market will require billions of replacement paper straws within a short period of time, necessitating large production capacity increases. To meet rising customer demand, Transcend embarked on a significant machinery acquisition and deployment programme to produce large quantities of their Industrial Straw™.
The Solution
With the help of Haydock Finance, Transcend is increasing their Industrial StrawTM production through the installation of new machinery allowing them to significantly boost their production capacity.
Furthermore, Transcend has enhanced its European presence by expanding into Italy with an additional production facility. This facility is dedicated to producing sustainable paper straws for their on-pack straw customers. Transcend’s Italian factory will have capacity to produce up to two billion paper straws per year. Due to the scale of the operation, there was significant investment in machinery and other technology, all enhanced in partnership with Haydock Finance.
Today, Transcend has continued to grow their paper straw business into a position of European category leadership, supplying major quick service restaurant brands and recently announcing the Industrial straws™ for juice boxes with Ribena.
The Result
Haydock Finance facilitated the acquisition of cutting-edge technology to help Transcend’s drive for both national and international expansion. This included £2.2million in asset financing as part of a broader capacity enhancement programme.
After a series of discussions with Haydock’s talented team, we felt they were an excellent partner to meet an important part of our asset finance requirements. With Haydock’s assistance, Transcend is in the process of scaling up our production as we add major international brands as clients within a short timescale.
Justin Bailes
Director of Corporate Development and Strategy, Transcend Packaging
