The date:  June 18^th 2021 @ 21:00

The event: Red Hot Chilli Steppers’ 3 Peaks Challenge

The charity:  Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

The clock was ticking…

The team had 24 hours and a huge mountain – or 3 – to climb!

They had just spent a gruelling 7 hours 40 minutes travelling to the first spot – Ben Nevis, fortunately this time wasn’t included in the 24 hour challenge – unfortunately this meant the team had already been awake for this time. Travelling between the peaks in 3 vehicles, each taking their turn behind the wheel, the team maintained contact and kept sprits up using Snapchat filters and conference calling.

The group, consisting of 9 colleagues from Port Sunlight of varying ages, abilities and fitness levels, had chosen to take part in the challenge as an engagement and team building activity.  They chose to also raise money for the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Taking part in the challenge were;

Liam Gafoor; Duane Sales; Paul Pinto; Lisa Spoor; Sebastian Topolnicki; Adam Sutton; Artur Kowalewski; Nathan Selby and Zbigniew Krzywanski.

If we don’t beat it, we eat it!

As if the task itself didn’t bring with it enough jeopardy for the intrepid adventurers, the team had agreed that the forfeit for failing to complete the challenge would be that they all had to consume a Carolina Reaper Chilli, one of the hottest chillies on the Scoville scale.

The event wasn’t without it’s challenges, with team member Duane showing his Olympic prowess in gymnastics, doing the splits half way down Ben Nevis after slipping on a stone!

Tackling terrible terrains across the 3 peaks was one of the most difficult parts of the trial as was dealing with temperatures around -2 degrees (but feeling like -15) at the summit of Ben Nevis – gruelling, but worth it in the end.

The group pulled together to complete the challenge in 23 hours and 40 minutes, meaning that fortunately the Carolina Reaper chillies (and the team’s taste buds) were left in one piece.

Raising funds, building bonds.

Initially organised as a team building and engagement activity, the event also raised much needed funds for Alder Hey Children’s Charity. The total currently stands at over £1000, the link is still open and all donations are welcome;

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/three-peaks-challenge-uk

After donning their customised red nose day face masks (courtesy of the fantastic efforts of colleague Sylwia Morys), car washers; Danny Hughes, James Palmer, Rick Morris, Kylie Sanders, Graham Cann and Dave Seddon headed to the car park in search of dirty cars – a must for any charity car wash!

The team were assisted on the day by Inga Baneliene who acted as Chief Organiser, Financial Controller and Car Park Activity Co-ordinator (all very official ?)

The event was an overwhelming success, with the team getting through an incredible 42 cars.  They were cheered on by colleagues offering the traditional well wishes – as well as more structured KPIs to ensure they hit their targets, bespoke Safe Systems of Work and a checklist of essential PPE for car washing in the cold – which of course included a mankini!

Special mention also goes to Lesley Mason of Great Bear customer Conair, who helped organise the raffle and prizes.

The events combined raised an incredible £810, which was split equally between the 2 nominated charities the site has chosen to support – Comic Relief and Lynch Syndrome UK.  Whilst many people will be familiar with Comic Relief, the site’s second charity – Lynch Syndrome UK – affected someone a little closer to home.

Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), is a type of inherited cancer syndrome associated with a genetic predisposition to different cancer types. This means people with Lynch syndrome have a higher risk of certain types of cancer.

Great Bear colleague, Lenka Liscinska, wanted to raise money for the charity after her partner was diagnosed with the condition which later led to bowel cancer. Fortunately, he has since recovered, but the couple wanted to raise much needed funds and awareness, for a charity close to their hearts.

To bolster the total raised on the day, Lenka completed a 10k and encouraged others to take part by doing a fun run, which at the time of writing had raised over £1000.  You can still donate to this fantastic cause using the link below;

Donate to Lenka’s fundraiser for Lynch Syndrome UK (facebook.com)

Well done to everyone on site – it certainly looks like you enjoyed yourselves!

Great Bear Kettering had to think outside of the box in order to generate much needed funds for their 2 chosen charities of the year – The Trussell Trust and Cransley Hospice Trust.

The Trussell Trust aims to end hunger and poverty in the UK. By supporting a nationwide network of foodbanks, the charity provides not only emergency food but much needed support services to people locked in poverty whilst campaigning for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.The Cransley Hospice Trust provides care for patients with life-limiting illnesses who need the specialist help of hospice care in North Northamptonshire.  Their services are provided free of charge for the local community, offering care and support wherever needed, be that in the patient’s own home, a care home or within a hospice.

Large scale fundraising challenges have had to be postponed or cancelled due to ongoing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 along with ensuring we do everything we can to keep our colleagues and their families safe.  Smaller scale activities have however proved ever popular, with ‘dress down days’, raffles and the all-important “The Great Great Bear Bake Off” raising a staggering £1,621 to date.

Supporting charities isn’t all about fundraising. Whilst it’s undeniable that charities rely on fundraising initiatives to support their work, sometimes we can look a little closer to home and towards our own areas of expertise to help. Earlier in the year, the Trussell Trust approached the team at Great Bear to help them procure much needed storage space – as experts in the ambient storage world, we were on hand to offer a suitable solution that provided an element of free storage for the charity along with a heavily discounted rate for the future. Some of the monies raised to date from fundraising initiatives have then been used to pay for the additional rental costs for the storage space, allowing the charity to concentrate on their core activities.

You can read more about the charities and the impact of your fundraising by visiting their websites:

www.cransleyhospice.org.uk

www.trusselltrust.org

If you have a fundraising idea for these charities or would like to get involved with future events, please contact Kate Collins (kate.collins@greatbear.co.uk) or Carole Elliot (carole.elliot@greatbear.co.uk)

The beautifully designed 500ml aluminium bottles aren’t just aesthetically pleasing, they are also endlessly recyclable. The bottles, that clearly stand out from their competitors, bring a breath of fresh air to the shelves at Boots and Sainsbury’s. Their line doesn’t stop there, to accompany the new mouthwashes, customers are able to purchase a stainless steel cup (exclusive to Boots and www.wakencare.com), allowing them to reuse it again and again while getting the perfect amount of mouthwash each time.

Waken and their new line of products required a reliable, robust and fully tailored logistics solution. Waken first approached Great Bear with knowledge of our previous work with male grooming brand, Bulldog Skincare in late July 2019. Shortly after, a site visit to our Kettering depot was arranged and operational discussions began shortly after in August. The site started taking delivery of stock w/c 16^th September and re-work operations began the same week to facilitate outbound orders to Boots the following week.

As a business we needed to understand not only Waken’s product requirements, but also Waken as a company. We became familiar with their USP, company ethos and their distributor’s requirements. Team members from both sides worked extremely closely to ensure the launch deadline was met.

Team Members – Renata Jopek & Nicu Toma

Our site at Kettering faced several challenges in order to deliver a smooth Waken launch. A dedicated team was assigned to facilitate the launch incorporating Team Leaders, Shift Managers, the Operations Manager and the site’s General Manager.

“Although timelines have been tight, it has been an absolute pleasure to work directly with Batu Cavus and the Waken team on this implementation. I am especially proud of my own team’s interest, agility and diligence in their approach to successfully delivering this work stream. We look forward to seeing sales grow and working on our next milestone- Waken Ecommerce”, Steve Candelin, Kettering General Manager.

Not only were we focussed on providing perfect service for Waken but we had to guarantee no degradation to the service of our other clients which the team achieved flawlessly. So much so that the site achieved their objective in just 4 weeks allowing for the public to see the new range on retail shelves before the official launch date of 25^th October!

“It was a very quick project implementation and we were on shelf 12 days earlier than planned. We could not have reach this target without the great team at Great Bear Kettering.” Batuhan Cavus Head of Operations – Waken Mouthcare.

Waken say ‘Don’t just clean. Care’ and we at Great Bear can relate to that sentiment. We care about our client’s products, reputations and our ability in maintain these things. If you have a product that you wish to get to market with a company that cares about what is important to you get in touch today.

new.business@greatbear.co.uk

01829 772 200

]]> https://www.culina.co.uk/a-fresh-start-with-new-business/feed/ 0 https://www.culina.co.uk/how-did-that-get-there-co-packing/ https://www.culina.co.uk/how-did-that-get-there-co-packing/#respond Fri, 21 Dec 2018 08:02:46 +0000 http://culina.s801.sureserver.com/?p=1632 Read more]]> If I were to say the word ‘Co-Packing’ to you, you would be forgiven for thinking I was talking about the joint effort to get the suitcases ready for the annual family holiday. When in actual fact I would be talking about the 3rd party logistics process in which a co-packing company receives a product from a manufacturer (sometimes in its raw state) and then package it, or re-work the packaging. An oversimplification of Co-Packing would be ‘the operation of packing goods for redistribution’. But that’s merely scratching the surface.

Co-Packing is the process that allows companies to sell their goods in all manner of packaging. For example have you ever wondered who packs the mini cereal boxes into multi-packs, or who puts the chocolate into selection boxes for Christmas or how did that bottle of serum get in my promotional hair straightener box? Co-Packing, that’s how!

A good Co-Packing operation really is the jewel in the crown for any 3PL worth their salt. You know what they say ‘if you pack it, they will come’… OK so I may have made that bit up but in a way it’s true. If you can pack it well businesses will come to you.

From food to pharmaceuticals, from car parts to beauty products, “Co-Packing” is more common than you might realise. IPS (part of the Culina Group) is the largest “Co-Packer” in the UK, working with some of the best-known food brands to provide innovative Co-Packing, Co-Filling and Co-Manufacturing solutions.

With over 30 years’ experience, a national network of Co-Packing facilities committed staff and a flexible approach to business, IPS continues to lead the market.

Contact us – and add real value to your supply chain!

KEY – ‘Rough’ process of raw product process

1. A raw product (in this case sweets)is produced by manufacturer

2. It is collected by a 3rd party haulier

3. Product arrives at an IPS location

4. The sweets are unloaded

5. Sorted in to correct weights

6. Added to packaging

7. Packaging is sealed

8. Best before and other production information is added

9. Product is boxed

10. Boxes sealed

11. Boxes palletised and wrapped for transport

12. Pallets loaded on to 3rd party truck

13. Product transported to retailers central hub

14. Product is stored and divided into store allocation

15. Selected quantity is despatched

16. Product is delivered to chosen store and displayed

17. Product is purchased by consumer and enjoyed

Currently, it can cost up to £150 per tonne to separate, store and transport edible surplus food to charity. If this cost were reimbursed far more of the 270,000 tonnes of edible surplus in the system would go to people who need it. For only £10-15m per year, 100,000 tonnes of food could be donated.

This funding could save UK charities millions. If only 100,000 tonnes of surplus was redistributed it could save them between £150-200m – at least a tenfold return.

This is great value, potentially hugely effective and risk free. Every pound will result in an exponential benefit to charity.

As you may be aware, Culina Group is a partner with FareShare, a leading food redistribution organisation. We recently reached a milestone by contributing 218 tonnes, equivalent of 500,000 meals since our partnership began in May 2017.

If you could please take the time to add your signature to the petition by visiting the following link: Help fund the cost of redistributing more edible surplus food to charity, it would be hugely appreciated.

You can read more about this important initiative at the following link: Grocer petitions government for food waste subsidy after poll backs its campaign.

The short distance categories are based on data collected by Microlise telematics units. Now in their third year, these telematics-based awards are defined by analysing anonymous data assessed against a range of criteria using a process defined by the University of Nottingham’s Advanced Data Analysis Centre.

The Microlise Driver of the Year Awards judging panel was made up of Bob Harbey – Executive Director (Microlise), Richard Burnett – Chief Executive (Road Haulage Association), James Hookham – Deputy Chief Executive (Freight Transport Association), Steve Hobson – Editor (Road Transport Media) and Nick Welch – Head of Technical Services (RTITB).

This is the second successive year that a Hoddesdon driver has won this award with Giorgio Lercara picking up last year’s award.

The event held on Monday 14th November at the London Hilton on Park Lane was attended by some of the biggest names in the UK logistics and transport sector.

Since opening in April 2016, the Port Salford site has acted as a central hub for General Mills’ ambient brands arriving by short sea freight from Europe. The company is responsible for a range of market-leading brands including Old El Paso, Green Giant, Betty Crocker and Nature Valley.

80% of its volume is now transported via the Manchester Ship Canal and General Mills expects to save 600,000 road haulage miles each year whilst providing a “future proof” solution to market trends.

This latest award follows on from last month’s success, when General Mills UK and Culina won the Warehouse Operations Award at the CILT (Chartered Institute for Logistics and Transport) Annual Awards for Excellence.

General Mills is currently the anchor client of food and drink logistics giant Culina Group, which took occupation of a 280,000 sq ft (26,000 sq m) unit at Port Salford. Port Salford is being developed by the Peel Ports’ sister company Peel Land and Property.

David Huck, Port Director at Peel Ports, said: “Since we welcomed Culina Group and General Mills to Port Salford their commitment to seeing the multimodal warehousing project succeed has been unwavering. Their presence as market leaders has acted as a catalyst to attract more logistics providers and their clients to the area. Port Salford offers significant advantages to companies exporting to the UK, especially those with goods arriving at the Port of Liverpool. An integrated supply chain, close to their end destinations, will help them ship their cargo quicker and more directly to customers in the commercial heartland of the UK.”

Steve Winwood, CEO of Culina Logistics, a division of Culina Group added: “The Supply Chain Excellence Awards are always a great occasion and we’re very proud to have been recognised for our part in this venture. We’re looking at the long term with this cutting-edge facility. Port Salford really is taking a revolutionary approach to logistics in the UK and it is an exciting time for our whole team.”

General Mills UK Supply Chain Director, Dave Howorth said: “Our distribution agreement with Culina reinforces our commitment as a company that is focussed on finding solutions that are best for customers, consumers and the environment. We’re honoured to have received this award and thank the judges for selecting the Port Salford partnership.”

Port Salford offers water connectivity provided by the Manchester Ship Canal via Liverpool, is within 2 miles of both the M60 and M62 motorways and offers rail connectivity to the West Coast Mainline via the Chat Moss, thereby avoiding Manchester Piccadilly.

Port Salford is a £138m investment to create 148,000 sq m of warehousing and 280 jobs, and an integral part of the Atlantic Gateway project being led by Peel Ports. The project involves the redevelopment of the port and canal network and surrounding land between Manchester and Liverpool.

The event on Thursday 27 October was held at London’s Lancaster Hotel and featured some of the biggest names in the UK logistics and transport sector.

Operating from Port Salford, a multimodal warehouse distribution centre to the west of Manchester accessible by road, canal and rail, General Mills currently routes 80% of its volume by canal. The company is responsible for a range of market-leading brands including Old El Paso, Green Giant, Betty Crocker and Nature Valley.

Since opening in April 2016, the site has acted as a central hub for General Mills’ ambient brands arriving by short sea freight from Europe. The company expects to save 600,000 road haulage miles each year whilst providing a “future proof” solution to market trends.

Steve Winwood, Culina Logistics CEO, said: “The CILT awards are always a great occasion and we’re very proud to have been recognised for our part in this venture. We’re looking at the long term with this cutting-edge facility. Port Salford really is taking a revolutionary approach to logistics in the UK and it is an exciting time for our whole team.”

General Mills UK & Ireland Supply Chain Director, Dave Howorth said: “Our distribution agreement with Culina Group reinforces our commitment as a company that is focussed finding solutions that are best for customers, consumers and the environment. We’re honoured to have received this award and thank the judges for selecting the Port Salford partnership.”

Port Salford offers water connectivity provided by the Manchester Ship Canal via Liverpool, is within 2 miles of both the M60 and M62 motorways and offers rail connectivity to the West Coast Mainline via Chat Moss, thereby avoiding Manchester Piccadilly.

On day two the team left Haverhill and cycled a tough 80 miles to Desborough arriving at the hotel in total darkness at 9.pm after a really long day in the saddle.

Another tough day followed on day three with the cyclists leaving Desborough and cycling to Great Bear Fradley and then onto Wolverhampton racking up a grueling 85 miles in total!! The team at Wolverhampton stayed late to put up banners and provided the cyclists with a buffet to greet them after a long, hard day.

Day 4 was an early start with the cyclists setting off from Wolverhampton with stops at Stafford, Market Drayton and then Tattenhall. Although due to mechanical problems the cyclists unfortunately didn’t made it to Tattenhall and had to cycle into the night to get to their hotel. Matt Pinnock the Driver Trainer from Port Salford joined the cyclists for the day, having cycled the 78 miles that the group cycled, Matt then cycled a further 70 miles back to Manchester.

Day five was the most brutal day of the whole journey, with the team leaving Chester and cycling over the Peak district to Great Bear Sheffield. The trepidation that the team felt at the beginning of the day was well founded as the hill gradients increased. Day 5 consisted of 86 very tough miles and was the most difficult day of the whole event.

With aching muscles the team began their penultimate day with a comparably low 48 miles to complete on the day. Starting at Sheffield and cycling to Rotherham and then on to IPS Featherstone.

The team woke up on Saturday to take on their final day with an ‘easy’ 70 mile trip over the Pennines to Port Salford! It was tough with the guys arriving at Port Salford in the middle of the afternoon. Paul Barnes from IPS Featherstone joined the group on Friday and once the team arrived in Port Salford, got straight back on his bike to cycle back to Featherstone!

A special mention should go to Dave Windle the Driver trainer form Market Drayton who drove the support vehicle and repaired the bikes whilst always seeming to be on hand to support the team whenever the team needed motivating.

It should not be underestimated how tough a journey this was, extreme fatigue, injury, damage to bikes and hills were all a constant barrier to overcome, the team hope to raise a total of around £3,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support.