LDC Top 50 2023

When Jitha Singh and his four brothers started CBS Packaging Group in 1996, they had zero industry experience. “Some of our rivals laughed at us, and they said we wouldn’t survive,” he says. Last year, the business turned over £40 million.

CBS has outgrown many of its peers – and is even acquiring them. “We will double in size over the next five years.” Singh learned persistence and dedication from his father, who was also an entrepreneur. “He came to the UK with nothing and built his fortune,” he says. “We are uneducated people, without a single O-Level between us, but we have discipline and perseverance.”

Q&A

What was your inspiration for starting this business?

My father was my inspiration, he was an entrepreneur and ran a clothing business back in the sixties and seventies. Fashion is such a volatile industry; you can have one good year and then tastes change, and you lose it all the next year. That got me thinking, ‘What is something that everyone uses and never goes out of fashion?’ That’s why I decided to go into boxes.

Tell me about your social and environmental impact

Our factory is in a low-income area, we employ a large number of local people and provide work for a lot of local businesses, provide training and look after our employees well. And we care about the environment. All our boxes are 100 per cent recyclable, and we make our own Board in house for our products, so our carbon footprint is lower. We are always looking for ways to become greener, such using the minimum amount of packaging required for the product weight.

What drives you?

Passion. I am passionate about this business and our people. When we started, there were 24 box companies in the Midlands – and we were at the bottom of the list. Last year, we became the third largest independent and profitable box business in the UK. And that passion is going to take us to be one of the Largest independent in the UK.