The Story

Project Lynn

Anyone driving along the A47 lately will have noticed a change in the landscape around King’s Lynn: virtually every piling rig in the region has been pressed into service, driving more than thirty feet down into a section of the 110 acres of peat to lay the foundations of what will soon be Palm Paper’s UK paper mill.

Photo courtesy of Lynn News ©

Palm Paper’s German parent company was established in 1872, and is still in the hands of the Palm family. Today it is the largest privately owned paper company in Germany, employing 2,800 people in its paper mills and box plants. The company’s strong performance over the past decade translates into a doubling of its workforce and an increase in turnover of 300%.

UK Growth

When Palm Paper decided the company’s continued growth should come from outside Germany, the UK was identified as the ideal base. Since the UK has a significantly higher consumption of newsprint than the domestic production, Palm has identified a way to grow outside Germany with supplies to existing customers, while resolving the environmentally costly feedback loop of the import/export cycle. Palm’s environmental and ecological credentials will be further bolstered by its use of 100% recycled fibres.

Having identified the UK for its new operation, the search was underway for a suitable site with access to water. The King’s Lynn site at Saddlebow, alongside the river Ouse, was chosen not least because of the positive welcome and support of the Borough Council and its partner organisations.

Local Jobs

The piling rigs and cranes stand testament to the scale of the operation and to the £400 million investment in Norfolk: 1000 construction workers will finish work in the autumn of 2009 when one of Europe’s largest, fastest and most efficient paper mill will be fully operational. Managing Director Derek Harman said, “We have settled well since our office move from Berkshire to Norfolk during April and have already hired a number of local people for both administrative and production roles.  Construction at the site is progressing well with local businesses involved in the supply of materials and services.” In total, 150 direct jobs and 150 indirect jobs will be created, and recruitment is already underway for the highly skilled operatives to deliver the projected production of 400,000 tonnes of newsprint for the UK market. Plans for an apprenticeship programme in the future are already in the making for the future.