º£½ÇÊÓƵ

The boss of one of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's largest packaging specialists is urging Government to step in to help with spiralling energy and materials costs.

Billy Hutchinson, managing director of Burntwood-based Lesters, believes his sector is often overlooked when it comes to support, yet finds itself faced with a potential 30 per cent increase in paper prices in the next month.

He said: "There's a perfect storm about to hit and there's no way our sector can avoid it. It's a triple whammy of energy, fuel and material prices all rocketing at the same time and, just the prospect of this, is enough to make people think twice about spending which is translating into a freeze in the economy."

He added: "We're already looking at how we can mitigate some of the challenges in our control and have invested heavily in new technology - which uses less energy - and switching to more solar power. This isn't going to be a quick fix, more a long-term strategy.

"The packaging sector is taken for granted. People just see boxes, but it's how everything is transported and crucial to everyday life. We're going to need support and Government has a role to play in providing subsidies or tax cuts around energy usage.

"Our fuel bills have gone up from £3,000 to £5,000 per week, material prices could hit a 30 per cent increase and our fixed term electricity contract is up at the end of the year. There will be companies in our market where those agreements finish earlier, and they will be contending with the new prices very soon - that's going to cause major distortion."

Lesters has recently taken on another 15 staff to cope with the rise in demand after seeing sales increase by 120 per cent.