Our heritage

We’re extremely proud to be not only an industry-leading supplier of packaging systems, but also a family business that’s still going strong after more than four decades. Over the years we've undergone a few transformations, tweaking our image, expanding our product range and relocating our offices, but we've always stayed committed to our core principles of high-quality products, exemplary customer service and best-in-class support. This dedication has afforded us the longevity, stability and growth required to become the go-to packaging supplier that we are today.

Travel back through our key milestones to discover where it all began, how we've built long-lasting supplier relationships, formed a talented team of wrapping experts and navigated our way around the North!

1977

The YPS journey begins!

Our journey began in 1977 thanks to our entrepreneurial chairman, David Johnson, who renounced a secure and successful career in sales to join a small fledgling packaging business and take it under his wing. David's expertise in packaging extended back to the 1960s when he worked as a wrapping machine mechanic at United Biscuits in Halifax, a role which he says sparked his lifelong fascination for the industry. With further experience gleaned from years of shrink-wrapping machinery sales at one of the decade's largest international manufacturers, David jumped at the opportunity to make a difference to this small, newly-established packaging distribution business. We're so very glad he did!

1982

YPS moves to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

In 1982 the decision was made to relocate our headquarters, workshop and warehouse from Leeds to Dewsbury, to take advantage of a larger unit which had become available. Conveniently situated along the M62 corridor, the site at Woodkirk allowed us to serve customers across the UK with ease. Dewsbury remained our primary base for the next 38 years.

1987

David Johnson takes the helm

After a decade in partnership, David boldly bought out his two co-directors at the time to become the sole owner of YPS. Having already steered the company through a global recession at the turn of the 1980s and the collapse of one of our largest customer accounts, David was well placed to go it alone.

1989

Our warehouse moves to Burnley

Following a period of growth and expansion with the machinery side of the business gaining traction, YPS relocated our warehouse to Burnley in 1989, becoming a two-site operation.

1991

YPS Welcomes Glyn Johnson

Marking the beginning of our status as a family business, David’s son Glyn Johnson joins us on a year-long business degree work placement whilst studying at the University of Central Lancashire. Learning the ropes from the bottom up, Glyn enjoyed his newfound challenge so much that he decided never to leave, joining full-time after his graduation. Seven years later in 1998, Glyn was promoted to the role of director and charged with overseeing our entire machinery sales division before securing the post of managing director in 2009.

1995

Rachel Johnson joins the team

Following in her brother's footsteps, David’s daughter Rachel Johnson joined the YPS team in 1995. Her effervescent charms earned her a brilliant rapport with customers and she blazed a trail in the shrink film world heading up our material sales division. Rachel was later appointed to the role of director in 2007 following her successes and then to operations and finance director in 2013.

1996

We partner with Rochman

In the mid-1990s we partnered with Rochman, one of the leading global manufacturers of shrink-wrapping machinery, becoming their UK exclusive distributor. This was a watershed moment in the decision to cease manufacturing our own machinery -which we had been doing since our inception - allowing us to refocus our efforts on delivering a total solution with after-sales support. The Rochman brand later became ULMA and we still enjoy a relationship with the manufacturer to this day, having completed thousands of shrink wrapping installations together across the UK.

2000

Welcome Bill Bruce

At the turn of the century we recruited shrink film expert extraordinaire Bill Bruce to the business, impressed by his extensive background and experience in polyolefin sales gained in various posts for global manufacturing firms. Bill was quickly appointed as the first non-family member on our board of directors after helping YPS carve out a reputation for shrink film excellence at a number of blue-chip customers.

2001

YPS join forces with Bollore

In 2001, YPS became the exclusive UK partner for Bollore’s outstanding range of shrink films, accelerating the growth and success of the business almost overnight. Known as the premium manufacturer of presentation films for food and non-food applications, Bollore have constantly been a driver for innovation and technology in the industry. This alliance has allowed us to bring to the UK market a number of show-stopping products including 'BTT' ultra-thin films, bio-based films and the world's first barrier film that's at once fully recyclable and constructed with recycled content polymers. In 2021 Bollore announced that YPS were their leading distribution partner globally.

2004

Our largest ever shrink film contract is secured

Following the adoption of Bollore's premium films, we won a monumental contract to supply Bollore polyolefin to a huge blue-chip food business in 2004. Our relationship with this special customer is still in place to this day.

2005

Back to our roots

The relocation of our warehouse from Burnley back to a larger site at Woodkirk, Dewsbury make us a single site operation once again, putting our feet firmly back on home ground in Yorkshire.

2006

we achieve ‘aa’ status

In 2006 our top-ranking BRC accreditation is secured, with YPS achieving the top ‘AA’ grade. We have maintained this impeccable standard to this day and it's a primary reason why so many of our customers have total confidence in our operations, especially those in the food industry. The BRC accreditation is testament to a wide range of high business standards including the traceability of goods, hygiene levels, contaminants, safety procedures, storage conditions and working policies to name but a few.

2011

Jonny Braithwaite comes onboard

Our current sales director Jonny Braithwaite joined the business as our first graduate trainee in 2011. Under Rachel's wing, Jonny quickly learnt every thing there is to know about shrink films, becoming an authority in materials. With a keen interest in machinery, Jonny also acquired a wealth of knowledge and technical expertise in the systems side of the business and is also now our go-to automation expert! Promoted to the role of director within only a few short years, much of our success over the last decade can be credited to Jonny's influence and hard work.

2013

We tie up with Hugo Beck

Partnering with the world-renowned manufacturer of premium wrapping automation equipment Hugo Beck in 2013 was a monumental moment in our archives. The highly sought-after brand allowed us to offer our customers high-speed, high-performance, German-engineered machines for the first time, and we have gone on to install hundreds of machines together across the UK since. In 2019, Hugo Beck awarded us their 'Best Representative' award as the highest performing global distributor of their product range.

2014

customer service award winners

In September of 2014 we were crowned the winners of the 'Customer Service’ awards held by the PPMA, our industry association body, at the National Motorbike Museum in Birmingham. Citing our extensive bank of customer testimonials, Richard Little, the PPMA group chaiman said that YPS were "clearly worthy winners of this category, both in the eyes of their happy customers and in the esteemed opinions of our experienced judges".

2015

Josh Gibson strengthens team YPS

Graduate Josh Gibson joined our shrink film division in early 2015, taking up the position of sales manager. Taking naturally to the role with his likeable persona and professionalism, it wasn't long before he was joining our board of directors.

2015

david wins the ‘outstanding achievement’ award

Following our success in 2013, we once again topped the tables at the PPMA awards in 2015 when our chairman David received the most anticipated win of the night, the much-coveted ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award. The judges explained that their decision was in recognition of David's long and dedicated service to the packaging industry.

2017

jake martin receives the ‘ppma apprentice of the year’ award

Racking up yet another award, our young engineer Jake Martin received the ‘PPMA Apprentice of the Year’ award in 2017. Following a record number of entries, Jake fought off strong competition from 6 of his industry peers to secure the title with the independent panel of 10 judges praising the specialist programme-writing skills he had displayed for HMI control panels.

2018

YPS win big at wembley!

Held at Wembley Stadium in the summer of 2018, the 'National Family Business Awards' were a clean sweep for team YPS, seeing us scoop three major titles. These included the North East Regional 'Rising Star’ award as well as the National ‘Rising Star’ award and a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ accolade, in direct recognition of David Johnson’s four decades of success at YPS. The following year in 2019 we also won Silver in the ‘Manufacturing and Engineering’ category of the National Family Business awards.

2019

OPRL & SafeContractor certifications

Our range of fully recyclable shrink films was boosted in 2019 with the official granting of OPRL approval. The 'On Pack Recycling Scheme' allowed us for the first time to display clear and consistent recycling instructions on our shrink films when the end-user was also a member. The addition of OPRL's symbols on packs has been shown to increase the uptake of recycling behaviours in the general UK population and so this accreditation was an important milestone in our sustainability plans. In the same year we also achieved SafeContractor accreditation, demonstrating our adherence to safe, stable and ethical working procedures and practices.

2021

Bigger, better & bolder

A new chapter of YPS begins in 2021 with some significant changes. The business is moved in its entirety from Dewsbury to a much larger, purpose-built HQ in Brighouse, a move which allowed us to increase our on-site stocks of machinery and materials to minimise customer lead times. Concurrently we unveiled a newly rebranded image that we felt was much more in keeping with our status as the UK's leading packaging supplier. Finally in this year we secured the Prestige Award's ‘Best in Commercial Packaging Solutions’ title and welcomed on board three new sales team members to handle our ever-increasing levels of enquiries.

2022

YPS Marks 45 years in Business

On the second of September, we celebrated our 45th anniversary with a get-together for our colleagues, closest suppliers and friends of the family. We also officially opened our new HQ with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. A fantastic time was had by all with a little help from local magician Luke Lenihan, comedian Pete Emmett and plenty of cake and Champagne! Here's to the next 45 years of YPS!