Happy New Year from the NU: Agencies team.
Over the festive period we took the time to review 2020 & reflect upon what was the most challenging year we have experienced to date.
We kicked off the year by launching our new FSC certified and recyclable paperboard range at the UKGCVA show in London. The team were seriously excited to showcase the boards & engage with some of the industries leading experts. Many of our customers were present & it was a great opportunity to meet up with some familiar faces! For more information on NU: Paperboard, please follow this link NEW Paperboard launch for the Gift Card Market — Nu Agencies
Shortly after the successful UKGCVA show, the UK was plunged into the first version of ‘lockdown’. Due to the outbreak of Covid19 the team had to switch to working remotely. This presented many challenges, as the shift from face-to-face meetings with customers, suppliers & fellow work colleagues switched to video conferencing tools such as ‘Microsoft Teams’ & ‘Zoom’. The safety of our team members was paramount and wherever possible we worked from home and closely followed the protocols set out by the government. As a business we learnt that being adaptable and flexible to the current situation presented to you is vital.
Hospitality suffered as a consequence of lockdown, the demand for gift & hotel key cards waned. Fortunately, supermarkets were experiencing ‘panic buying’ and a demand for food that usually comes about once a year at Christmas. The team worked hard to keep up with our customers’ requirements & this area of our business experienced good growth. For more information on what NU: Agencies can offer please follow these links… BOPP — Nu Agencies , BOPET — Nu Agencies , CPP — Nu Agencies
In July, our team grew & Emilia Lynden joined as a Sales Co-Ordinator. We were excited to welcome Emilia to NU: Agencies and develop her knowledge of the business.
As 2020 drew to a close the ports around the UK were experiencing high congestion of vessels and a low volume of containers. A combination of stockpiling due to the oncoming Brexit deadline & issues caused by Covid-19 were to blame. Felixstowe had 11,000 containers of PPE clogging up vital space on the quay. Lead times were being stretched & the importing process was taking longer than normal. The NU: Agencies team tapped into its 40 years of experience in freight & logistics & used the resources we had available to us to negate any disruption to our operations.
Soon after our attention turned to Brexit & ensuring our customers & suppliers were as best prepared as possible. Priorities involved checking stock levels were sufficient & containers were loaded/unloaded on time.
Looking back, 2020 was as a challenging year but it also included a lot of growth and learning for the team & the business. Our outlook for 2021 is positive, despite at the time of writing, the UK entering another national lockdown. The team are hopeful that in quarter two, the hospitality market will be able to re-open and that flexible food film continues to experience record growth and demand. We are looking forward to being able to visit our customers and suppliers very soon.
