Millionth pallet celebrated

After almost four decades in business, Activ Business Services South West produced its millionth wooden pallet last week, but officials have said it would not take anywhere near as long to produce the two-millionth.

The occasion was marked with a small staff function on Thursday when executives and labourers came together to watch the pallet being built and rolling off the production line.

South West customer operations manager Darren McNab said the milestone was an exciting one and the company’s pallets were a vital component that contributed to the success of many businesses in the South West.

“Pallets are our core business but we do make apple bins, onion bins, we’ve done a fit-out for a fruit and veg shop, bed bases and then individual, one-off requirements,” he said.

“The staff are super excited ... they’d been gearing up for it all week.

“It’s good to celebrate a million pallets and the difference it makes to each person.”

Executive South West operations manager Amanda Lovelock said many of the staff had seen and been a part of the company’s evolution as business and production increased.

With this evolution and production increase in mind, Mr McNab said he expected the next million pallets to take a lot less than 38 years to produce.

“We would be hoping to celebrate another million in the next five to 10 years,” he said.