Why a much smaller UK converter matters to a major European packaging group
VPK Group, a European packaging group with €1.8 billion in annual turnover, has moved from a 28% minority stake to 100% ownership of Fencor Packaging Group, whose projected 2025 revenue is reported at £14.8 million.
That contrast explains why the deal matters.
A large European packaging group is taking full control of a much smaller UK corrugated packaging business — not simply for volume, but for local production, e-commerce packaging, warehousing, delivery reliability and customer relationships.
The price of the transaction was not disclosed.
The strategic direction is clear: VPK is strengthening its UK position by building a more connected supply chain around corrugated board.
VPK’s scale — and why it matters here
VPK Group is a Belgian family-owned packaging group with a major European footprint.
The group operates around 70 plants across 21 countries and employs approximately 7,000 people. It produces recycled paper, corrugated packaging, solid board packaging, cores and other fibre-based solutions.
Its annual corrugated board capacity is reported at around 2.3 billion m².
This scale gives VPK the ability to invest, integrate supply chains and support customers across several markets.
Fencor adds something different: a stronger local platform in the UK, close to customers and connected to service-led packaging demand.
Company background: VPK, Fencor and Manor Packaging
VPK Group traces its roots back to 1935. From a Belgian family-owned business, it has grown into a European packaging group built around recycled fibres, paper-based packaging and vertical integration.
Fencor Packaging Group is a UK corrugated packaging business with a different strength: local market knowledge, customer service and specialist corrugated packaging.
Its key operating company, Manor Packaging, is based in Whittlesey, near Peterborough. The company manufactures corrugated cases, die-cut packaging, e-commerce boxes and bespoke corrugated packaging solutions, supported by storage and warehousing operations.
Manor Packaging is the strategic centre of the deal.
Its value is not only in making boxes. It is in helping customers manage stock, protect products, respond quickly to changing demand and reduce supply chain risk.
This is why the transaction makes sense: VPK brings scale, recycled paper expertise and a European network; Manor Packaging brings local agility, warehousing, design capability and customer relationships.
Why Manor Packaging is strategically important
Earlier industry reporting referred to Manor Packaging as a business with around £12.8 million turnover and 85 employees. More recent reporting points to projected Fencor Packaging Group revenue of £14.8 million for 2025.
For a larger group like VPK, the attraction is not only the revenue number. It is the ability to add a UK corrugated converter with local customers, converting capability, stockholding and service-led delivery.
That figure is modest compared with VPK’s European scale.
But acquisitions are not judged only by turnover.
The better question is: what problem does the company help solve?
For VPK, Manor Packaging strengthens its UK presence in areas that matter increasingly to customers: regional service, e-commerce packaging, stockholding and delivery reliability.
Service, stock and delivery
Manor Packaging operates a 61,598 sq ft manufacturing facility and a 43,000 sq ft Stock and Serve warehouse.
The company promotes 96–98.5% On Time In Full delivery performance, 30% capacity headroom and continued reinvestment in equipment.
For customers, these are not just operational details.
They are a form of risk reduction.
If packaging does not arrive on time, a customer can face production delays, fulfilment problems and lost revenue. In that sense, a strong corrugated packaging supplier is no longer only selling boxes. It is helping protect the customer’s supply chain.
This is where Manor Packaging becomes valuable.
From minority investment to full control
VPK first acquired a 28% minority stake in Fencor Packaging Group in 2024.
In June 2026, the group moved to full ownership, taking control of 100% of the shares.
This step-by-step approach matters.
It suggests that VPK already understood the business, the market and the commercial relationships before moving to full control.
Manor Packaging will continue to operate as a stand-alone business within VPK Group, while benefiting from the wider expertise and network of the European group.
The model is clear: keep the local business close to its customers, while connecting it to a larger packaging platform.
Leadership transition: David Orr retires, Tony Clifton takes over
The acquisition also brings an important management change.
David Orr, Group Managing Director of Fencor, is retiring after 26 years of managing and growing the business.
Tony Clifton, previously Sales Director, will continue to lead Manor Packaging as Managing Director.
This is a key detail for customers, employees and suppliers.
Manor Packaging’s value is not only in its equipment, warehouse space or location. It is also in its relationships, service culture and local trust.
Tony Clifton’s role will therefore be important in preserving continuity while the business becomes part of a larger group.
What the leaders said
Martin Taylor, Managing Director VPK UK & Ireland, described Manor Packaging as a well-invested and agile organisation, known for high service levels and close customer relationships.
That statement captures the logic of the deal.
VPK is not only buying output. It is buying a service profile: agility, customer closeness and a business already positioned for regional and e-commerce packaging customers.
David Orr, who is retiring after 26 years with Fencor, described Manor Packaging becoming part of a long-term, family-owned company as a positive step for the business, its staff, customers and suppliers.
CorrBoard UK: why this is not a cold acquisition
The relationship between Fencor and VPK did not begin with this transaction.
Fencor and VPK had worked together for more than a decade through CorrBoard UK, the independent corrugated sheet feeder.
This detail is important because CorrBoard UK is majority-owned by VPK.
That means VPK already controlled a strategically relevant sheet-feeding asset connected to the UK corrugated board supply chain.
The Fencor acquisition strengthens the downstream link: from sheet supply to conversion, warehousing and customer delivery.
In other words, this is not a cold acquisition from outside the market.
It is the next step in an already connected supply chain.
Why the UK market matters
The UK corrugated board packaging market remains large, mature and strategically attractive.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the United Kingdom corrugated board packaging market is estimated at USD 12.6 billion in 2026 and projected to reach USD 15.21 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 3.85%.
The market is being shaped by e-commerce fulfilment, sustainability pressure, lightweight materials and more demanding logistics.
That makes local converting and service capability more valuable.
For customers, the question is no longer simply: “Who can make this box?”
It is increasingly: “Who can make it, hold stock, deliver reliably and adapt when demand changes?”
What VPK gains
For VPK, the acquisition strengthens several areas at once.
It expands the group’s UK corrugated packaging footprint.
It adds local manufacturing capacity in Cambridgeshire.
It gives VPK closer access to Manor Packaging’s customer relationships.
It supports growth in e-commerce packaging and service-led corrugated solutions.
It also deepens the connection between VPK’s existing UK interests, including CorrBoard UK, and downstream packaging conversion.
The deal fits a broader move toward integrated, service-driven corrugated board supply.
What Manor Packaging gains
For Manor Packaging, the deal brings the backing of a larger European packaging group.
That can support future investment, supply stability, technical expertise and long-term planning.
The key will be balance.
Manor Packaging’s strength is its local identity, service culture and agility. If those qualities are preserved, VPK can add scale without weakening what made the business valuable in the first place.
For customers, the ownership change will matter only if it improves reliability, capacity, investment and service.
The integration question
Every acquisition carries risk.
In this case, the main question is not whether VPK understands corrugated packaging. It clearly does.
The real test is whether Manor Packaging can remain fast, flexible and close to customers inside a larger ownership structure.
There is also a leadership transition to manage. David Orr’s retirement marks the end of a long chapter for Fencor, while Tony Clifton’s appointment is expected to provide continuity.
Successful integration will depend on three practical points:
keeping Manor’s local decision-making speed;
protecting existing customer relationships;
using VPK’s scale to support investment without slowing the business down.
That will decide whether the acquisition creates value beyond ownership.
What this says about UK corrugated board consolidation
The UK corrugated board market is being reorganised around service, logistics, e-commerce, sustainability and supply security.
Companies that combine board access, converting capacity, warehousing, delivery performance and customer trust are becoming more attractive.
This is the practical logic behind consolidation.
Large groups need local platforms.
Independent converters need investment and differentiation.
Customers need suppliers that can manage complexity, not only manufacture packaging.
Opportunity — and pressure for independent converters
For independent corrugated board converters, the message is mixed.
The opportunity is clear: strong regional businesses with loyal customers, good equipment, warehousing and specialist knowledge can become valuable acquisition targets.
The pressure is also clear: scale is becoming harder to ignore.
Large packaging groups can invest more, integrate supply chains more deeply and support customers across wider geographies.
Smaller converters must therefore prove their value through speed, flexibility, technical service and customer relationships.
Being independent is still valuable.
But independence needs a clear advantage.
What “new money” means in this deal
The phrase “new money” in this story does not refer to the undisclosed deal price.
It refers to where strategic value is moving.
In the past, corrugated board acquisitions were often discussed mainly in terms of capacity, volume and geography.
This transaction points to a broader pattern.
The valuable asset is now the operating system around the box: paper access, sheet feeding, conversion, stockholding, fast delivery, e-commerce capability and customer confidence.
That is why a business with projected revenue of around £14.8 million can matter to a European group with €1.8 billion in annual turnover.
Key takeaways
VPK has moved from a 28% minority stake in Fencor to 100% ownership.
Fencor’s projected 2025 revenue is reported at £14.8 million, while VPK reported €1.8 billion turnover in 2024.
VPK’s corrugated board capacity is reported at around 2.3 billion m² per year.
Manor Packaging will continue as a stand-alone business within VPK Group.
David Orr is retiring after 26 years, while Tony Clifton takes over as Managing Director of Manor Packaging.
CorrBoard UK, already majority-owned by VPK, gives the deal a clear supply-chain logic.
The acquisition strengthens VPK’s UK corrugated board footprint through local production, warehousing, e-commerce packaging and customer relationships.
Final insight
The most important part of this acquisition is not the undisclosed deal price.
It is the direction of travel.
VPK is strengthening a UK platform that connects corrugated board supply, sheet feeding, converting, warehousing and customer delivery.
For the UK market, that is the signal.
The next phase of corrugated board consolidation will not be decided only by who can produce more boxes.
It will be decided by who can protect the customer’s supply chain better.
Sources: VPK Group, Euwid Paper, Packaging Gateway, PaperAge, Fencor Packaging Group, Mordor Intelligence, corruga.expert analysis.
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