Multinational digital can printing company NOMOQ, with offices in Germany and Switzerland, this week announced the appointment of its new team, and Leamington Spa, West Midlands, as the location for it’s first-ever UK site, as it drives growth plans forward.

Andrew Bannister has been appointed as the new general manager and will lead the UK operations supported by Dave Rigby as regional account manager. A further 10 new appointments have been made across machine operation, graphic design, administration and logistics. The site will bring a total of 40 jobs to the region across the next three years with more appointments expected in coming months.

With over 34 years in the printing industry and having held various leadership roles in this time, Bannister brings a wealth of experience. His background is security printing, working mainly on postage stamps, tax stamps and currency; and spanning digital, conventional and graphic printing. He joins from Cartor Security Printers, where he was Production Director.

Having previously run his own – and Manchester’s first – gin distillery, Rigby is well versed in drinks production and brings extensive industry experience.

The team, led by Andrew, are tasked with delivering NOMOQ’s vision to become the leading supplier of decorated cans in small batch sizes for the UK beverage market with a focus on providing first-class customer service and driving new business forward. Its state-of-the-art technology turns aluminium cans into works of art that are fully recyclable without labels and plastic sleeves. It’s the first company in Europe to use this technology and one of the first worldwide.

Andrew Bannister, General Manager, NOMOQ UK said: “I’m thrilled to have joined NOMOQ and honoured to be leading our new team and first-ever UK site. It’s a very exciting brand with a deep commitment to sustainability and sustained investment in its people.

It’s also the ideal time to join the business as we focus on driving growth in the sector and the UK market with our creative, innovative and dynamic vision. I’m looking forward to playing my part.”

He added: “We have been working hard to build the UK team who all share the same passion and vision. Our new site in Leamington Spa is a brilliant location and we are now officially ready to serve the drinks industry here.

We’re raring to go, excited to be closer to our customers and to connect with everyone in the drinks’ communities! Our product has been a game changer for so many drinks brands and we’re beyond delighted to extend our offering to new and established customer’s right across the country.”

Peter Stein, CEO of NOMOQ, said: “We’re excited to welcome our new UK team to the NOMOQ family as we target further growth. Leamington Spa in the West Midlands is the ideal site for us and we’re proud to be investing in the region and importantly, bringing jobs to the area.

Our team is prepped and ready to go! We’re looking forward to providing more drinks producers with high-quality cans, digitally printed with millions of colours and shades with no minimum order quantity which supports tight cash flows, storage limitations or stunning special projects”

Ardagh Group completed the acquisition of a majority share in NOMOQ earlier this year. The company’s expansion into the UK market is a reflection of the growth opportunities now open to NOMOQ on the back of this partnership.

The site location was reportedly selected due to the area’s renowned STEM skills established manufacturing heritage, and to be closer to the company’s UK customers and the UK’s wider drinks community.

Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said: “It’s great to see this being recognised by ambitious international firms such as NOMOQ.”

NOMOQ stands for ‘No Minimum Order Quantity’ and creates high-quality, fully recyclable digitally printed cans offering low production costs and quick turnaround for creative designs for all beverage brands.

BrewDog is proud to be the first customer of the Leamington Spa production site. Alan Owen, head of procurement, said: “At BrewDog we react quickly when new opportunities to innovate present themselves. The high quality digital print technology from NOMOQ aligns with our focus on high quality branding. We look forward to this new partnership and the flexibility it will bring to our small batch can offering.”

Earlier this year, UK-based Clean Break Brewing also became one of NOMOQ’s first UK customers. The founder Richard Casement added: “Clean Break was born from the desire for a new adventure, and as a business owner, when you meet brands who reflect the same ambition for creating something new, it’s exciting! NOMOQ was a natural fit for us and we are thrilled to be working with them.

The design team is excellent; they provided step-by-step advice and met the design brief every time! Our cans look awesome, and we have had nothing but positive feedback from our customers. For high-quality, digitally printed cans with no minimum order quantity, you need NOMOQ on your team.”

The UK beverage industry is projected to reach over £8 billion in revenue at the end of 2023 with 22.2million users by 2027 as Brits are set to become a nation of canned beverage consumers due to changing drinking habits post pandemic and a desire for fully recyclable packaging. Cans are also proving to be resilient to the decline in the UK off-trade drinks market. In the first half of 2023, cans were the only beverage packaging to record more unit sales than one year ago, growing at +1,4% year-on-year. Beer in glass bottles declined by -11%, and carbonated soft drinks (CST) in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) declined by -4,7%.
The company won Can of the Year in 2022 by Canmaker’s magazine, highlighting the company’s quality packaging which will soon be produced in the UK.