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Innovation and diversification is key to the success of James Cropper, a 6th generation family business, based in the English Lake District
Richard Burnett is Head of Technology and Innovation at James Cropper, a prestige supplier of custom-made paper products to many of the world’s leading luxury brands, art galleries and designers.
Richard oversees the Technology & Innovation function at James Cropper, with projects including the Colourform moulded packaging proposition and the acquisition of Technical Fibre Products Hydrogen, a world leader in green hydrogen technology.
Richard led the implementation of the CupCycling programme, introducing the world’s first upcycling process for take-away coffee cups.
They discuss the challenges facing the packaging industry, and how James Cropper is both innovating and diversifying, with innovations in speciality paper, bespoke luxury packaging, and advanced non woven and electrochemical materials. We hear about developments in materials, in packaging design, and in manufacturing technology.
Podcast host Catherine Weetman helps businesses use circular, regenerative and fair solutions to do better, with less.
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Read on for more on our guest and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.
Links we mention in the episode:
- James Cropper links:
https://www.jamescropper.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/james-cropper-plc/
https://www.instagram.com/jamescropperspecialitypaper/
https://www.youtube.com/@JamesCropperPaper-Packaging
- Richard Burnett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-burnett-3a4b401/
Books, people and organisations we mentioned
- Collabor(h)ate: How to build incredible collaborative relationships at work (even if you’d rather work alone) by Dr Deb Mashek https://www.debmashek.com/book
- Renewcell https://www.renewcell.com/
About Richard Burnett
Richard is responsible for overseeing the Technology & Innovation (T&I) function at James Cropper, which since its inception has been set up to explore and deliver step-change growth to the company. This has included establishing the Colourform moulded packaging proposition and the acquisition of Technical Fibre Products Hydrogen, a world leader in green hydrogen technology. Under Richard’s leadership T&I at James Cropper is entering into a new and exciting phase, accelerating current decarbonisation projects and developing new ones.
Richard graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in Paper Science in 2002. From there, he worked for UPM for 12 years in roles across the business, starting in Operations and Technical before moving into Supply Chain and Sales. Richard joined James Cropper Paper eight years ago as Technical Sales Manager where he led the implementation of the CupCycling programme which saw the papermaker introduce the world’s first recycling process and award winning innovation dedicated to upcycling take-away coffee cups. Richard then moved into the role of Recovered Fibre Operations Manager in 2020, leading the growth in the use of Recovered Fibre in the Paper business.
James Cropper is a prestige paper innovator based in the English Lake District, supplying distinct, custom-made paper products to many of the world’s leading luxury brands, art galleries and designers. Throughout 176 years of high-quality paper production, the business has been carefully stewarded and nurtured by six generations of the Cropper family and is renowned globally for individual expertise in colour and fibre innovation.
Interview Transcript
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