We’ve created this short video which charts the journey of Arjen and Involvement so far.
“Amongst many highs and some lows, this has simply been the best group of people that I have ever worked for.
I believe that no matter the size or resources of your organisation you can operate at the very highest level.
It’s amazing what can be achieved with effort, commitment and taking a of leap-of faith.”
Arjen – CEO
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We have radically transformed over the past decade from a very traditional, half-century-old family concern in the Midlands into a pre-eminent business of its kind, continually pushing the sector forward. The journey began with our industrial packaging brands: Invopak, Manupak and OiPPS.
It’s not about the product, it’s about the people.
When our CEO, Arjen Cooper-Rolfe left the commercial property world in 2011 to take over his family’s packaging business, it was an analogue operation rooted in the past, but with enormous potential.
Arjen and the team embarked on a decade-long, radical cultural and service-led transformation.
Underpinning our transcendence is our belief that just because we’re an SME that doesn’t mean we can’t operate at the very highest level. We’re now one of Britain’s most progressive companies in our approach to people, and customer service – with a groaning sideboard of awards and independent accolades to prove it.
“Together we’ve transformed this business over the past decade by recognising that it’s not about the product, it’s about making the people better.” Arjen Cooper-Rolfe
Our story starts with the formation of Involvement Packaging in the 1970s in the West Midlands, by Arjen’s father. Andrew Cooper saw a gap in the market to supply UK manufacturers with the things they needed to safely and securely store and transport their products in. It was something that, until that point, hadn’t been done that well.
Over time the business grew its product range to include not just buckets, but jerrycans, bottles, tubs, large drums and a large range of tinplate and aluminium products.
The mid-1990s to mid-2000s saw Involvement Packaging grow through a series of acquisitions. This included a metal packaging specialist in Manchester, Kenyon’s Containers – providing growth in an important product group and also to customers in the industrial North.
Other strategic gains were Ashtown Packaging, Dublin, dating back to 1914 and L&B Containers, Glasgow.
In 2005, another Midlands firm De la Pak was acquired as part of the strategic growth plans. The merger of De la Pak and Involvement Packaging led to the creation of the trading name, Invopak.
Product diversification, using a range of materials to suit different purposes, is vital for success in the sector, because customers typically use many different types of packaging, all of which they expect to be obtainable from a single supplier. Our 10-year acquisition project made the necessary product proliferation possible, paving the way for the next phase – under the leadership of Arjen Cooper-Rolfe.
Arjen officially joined as CEO in January 2011 and embarked with his team on the transformation of what was still a stereotypically traditional family business into a progressive people-involved organisation.
Arjen Cooper-Rolfe was born in Banbury in North Oxfordshire in 1976. He then moved to the village of Kineton in Warwickshire, where he grew up – and where his father owned what was then called ‘Involvement Packaging’.
Arjen was seeped in the packaging business from an early age. He has happy memories, aged six or seven, of walking from home with his dad to the picturesque four-storey Victorian mill house, complete with open fires, that was Invopak’s first warehouse. Later, during school and university holidays, he would shift stock or drive a delivery van. But, he knew he never wanted to work there…
He took a degree at Bristol University in Economics and Politics and then followed a passion for buildings by taking a masters in Property and Law at City University in London. Later he trained to be a Chartered Surveyor at one of the big West End commercial property firms, JLL, and later became a partner to Knight Frank’s professional services division. In all, it was a 12-year career in Property.
Arjen was ‘very happy and doing well’ and had just had his first child when, between 2009 – 2011 his father died from pancreatic cancer, his mother from lung cancer and his brother from suicide. But, his decision to join the company was still far from clear-cut.
Arjen says: “Of course, I knew it was a successful (£18 million) well-run business with good, hard-working people. But it was a typical, traditional ‘inward-looking’ family firm, in a less-than-dynamic sector.”
Arjen officially joined Invopak in January 2011.Under Arjen Cooper-Rolfe, Invopak has been transformed into the dynamic leader of its sector and a beacon of best practise in employee involvement and customer care.And, fittingly for the company that started a plastic packaging revolution, Invopak is also leading the way towards a sustainable future for the industry.
Arjen Cooper-Rolfe is now nurturing his teams into a new era under the banner of Involvement, with a series of exciting new Invo brands on the launchpad – all infused with the original ‘we-can-do-it’ Invopak spirit.
