Whaley Bridge based label manufacturer Interket UK have received accolades from customers following
their successful deployment of a disaster recovery protocol. Faced with a
scenario like no other the staff and management team were fast to spring into action when informed of the forced evacuation of their UK site located in the High Peak town in Derbyshire.
Interket UK is part of the Interket Group of Companies and as many plants operating in the print packaging industry have a disaster recovery procedure which has rarely been tested. However the events this month tested their preparations to the maximum.
For anyone who missed the news and to set the scene, Toddbrook Reservoir sits above the town of Whaley Bridge and holds 300 million gallons of water. With 2 weeks worth of rain falling in 1 day the evacuation alarm was raised by the
Environment Agency on August 1st and resulted in over 1500 homes and businesses being emptied with little notice.
Leaving the Interket management team the unenviable task of ensuring their staff were safe and customers and suppliers informed. UK Sales & Operations Director Tim Pattison headed up the deployment of the contingency plan along with the designated team, some of whom are local residents so were affected both professionally and personally.
Pattison commented, “This unprecedented event tested our staff and the wider community. Our immediate priority was to follow the instructions of the Environment Agency and evacuate the buildings whilst at the same time ensuring we instigated our 3 stage contingency plan. Thankfully the potential disaster was avoided due to the hard work of the RAF, Environment Agency and Emergency Services who were outstanding.” He continued. “From a business perspective, I am very pleased with the way our business continuity procedure was deployed. We opened several channels of communication including dedicated groups on social media channels to ensure our stakeholders were updated every step of the way.” He adds “ We were overwhelmed with the community support from both our local and industry networks.” Pattison confirmed that the prior forward planning, effective teamwork and co-ordinated communication enabled the label printer to navigate through the most challenging event in its history.
Indeed customers were quick to complement Interket on their ability to deal with the potential crisis. Tony Gresty, Managing Director from Westbrook Industrial Ltd. stated “I cannot commend the team at Interket highly enough. Under extreme pressure they managed to maintain communication rescheduling orders via remote access to their operational planning and stock systems.”
Fortunately, the potential catastrophe was avoided and the site and residents returned to normal on August 7th after a week of high tension in the High Peaks. This meant the full disaster recovery procedure was not required which could of pulled in the support of one or more of their four sister sites located in Scandinavia and Western Europe. With remedial construction work commencing immediately and a wider review of the UK’s reservoirs underway, a re occurrence of this incident is one thing the staff and customers of Interket won’t have to worry about.
The 85,000 sq.ft manufacturing site is the largest employer in Whaley Bridge manufacturing both on-roll and sheeted self-adhesive labels.
Uniquely Interket UK coats its own substrate
which offers its international customers the opportunity to conduct trials and
develop new products.
A wide range of sectors served by the UK site includes; manufacturing, security, logistics, chemicals, dairy, food, beverage and horticulture.