The future is clear for SJA

In its first 12 months, Altham-based SJA Film Technologies clocked up an impressive £1 million turnover – and made a profit! Now two years old, its future is clearly bright.

The company’s recipe for success is partly based on the public’s appetite for a quick snack or ready meal.

In fact, you’ll probably come across one of SJA’s products today, more than once. The company supplies plastics like the peel-off lid on the sandwich you grab on the way back to the office at lunch time, or the top you tear off a ready meal from the supermarket when you’re scrabbling for a fast food solution – or on that pudding you know you really shouldn’t but…

The four directors behind SJA Film Technologies set up the business in November 2003 on Altham Industrial Estate.

Explains Alan Cox, sales director: “We knew there was a massive market out there and because we had all worked together previously at a film extrusion company in Nelson, we knew the business and market inside out.”

In the beginning, Alan, David Hoy, Tim Poskitt and Jon Harvey – collectively the SJA four – had planned simply to offer a ‘slitting’ service; something much less alarming than it sounds.

Slitting involves cutting films, paper, foils and other substrates. For instance, a manufacturer would send its product to SJA to be cut into widths to meet its own customers’ orders, or to salvage redundant stock.

Early on though, they were persuaded to stock film as well and to offer a more complete service.

Since then the company has motored along, moving into lidding (for sandwiches and the like), laminates for high value marketing and mailshots and OPP (a special type of film that is used on, say, a pack of baps from the supermarket) this year, and according to Alan Cox, sales director, there are plans afoot for further expansion next.

Alan says: “There’s no market we won’t look at. We’ve learned not to be blinkered about our business: indeed we have already proved to ourselves that keeping an open mind can increase the potential for growth – and profit.”

So SJA is doing very nicely thank you. It already has 6 employees and hopes to take on 4 more, with a move to new, bought, premises round the corner next month.

But the SJA team has had one secret weapon in its campaign for the hearts and plastics of the textile, magazine and produce sectors – Business Link.

Alan explains: “The one thing we were lacking was an accountant – none of us was a financial specialist, so we knew we would need some external help in that department.
“Business Link sent us a great business adviser who has given us a tremendous amount of support from day one, and still does. Our adviser’s input allowed us to make effective use of the commercial information available leading to improved efficiencies and returns.”

You could say that with SJA’s expertise and Business Link support, the company is the complete package!

Picture shows Jon Harvey of SJA