Benson Group's continued growth in the North East.

Benson Group is the UK's leading privately-owned printed carton supplier, producing packaging for both food and pharmaceutical industries out of two sites at Team Valley and Newburn, as well as sites in Leicestershire and Cheshire.

Benson Group's annual sales exceed pounds 93 million and this is expected to increase with the forthcoming introduction of the new LSX400 Komori Press at the Gateshead site. This will bring investment in new plant and equipment across the group to over pounds 25 million since 2000.

Benson Group creates packaging for many well-known companies, brands and retailers such as GlaxoSmithKline, Northern Foods, Reckitt Benkiser, Greencore, Bakkav|r and leading supermarket chains.

Following its inclusion in The Sunday Times "Profit Track 100" listing back in April of this year, Benson Group celebrated again at the end of June when it was named the "Customer Service Company of the Year" at the awards night held on June 16th in London. The annual Profit Track 100 league table, now in its tenth year, ranks Britain's private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years. Benson Group, the only packaging company listed, entered the league at number 78.

Commenting on the presentation of the award, Mark Kerridge, Managing Director of Benson Group, said: "Whilst it was a great pleasure for us to receive independent recognition from such a well respected source as The Sunday Times of our successful growth during the last three years by appearing in the Profit Track 100 league table, the award came as a complete surprise. It is of course very much down to our customer service team, but we also have to recognise the hard work put in by everyone involved in Benson Group. Owners, managers and shop floor staff all make vital contributions every single day to the success of the company."

Executive Chairman, Andrew Benson, added: "I am especially pleased that our strong focus on customer service has been recognised by such a valued and independent source as The Sunday Times."

The company, founded back in 1920, currently employs some 880 personnel across four sites, supplying 5 million pieces of sustainable packaging a day.

This latest success for Benson Group follows hard-on-the-heels of the company's triumph at the UK Packaging Awards in November of last year, where it won both "Packaging Company of the Year" and the "Cartonboard Packaging Award" in a fabulous double.