LDC Top 50 2026
Jonny Catto
Managing Director
iPac Packaging Innovations
Jonny Catto made his biggest career decision in a ski lift. “My father-in-law, Harry Reed, is a veteran of the thermoforming industry and pitched the idea for iPac while we were gliding up a mountain. It all started from there.”
Jonny quit his job at Deloitte and the pair launched the Gateshead-based business in 2016, manufacturing sustainable thermoformed plastic packaging for major retailers. “We wanted to challenge the incumbents with a company that was genuinely focussed on quality, innovation, sustainability and customer service.” A decade on, iPac produces more than half a billion units annually destined for the likes of M&S and Tesco, “We’re now the UK’s largest independent thermoformer.”
We’re now the UK’s largest independent thermoformer. That was on page one of our original business plan so it’s amazing to see it become a reality.”
Q&A
How do you keep the culture as you grow?
We won a scale-up award in iPac’s early days and one piece of advice that stuck with me was: “Don’t f**k up the culture!” We’re a family-run business, with my father-in-law as chair and my wife and other family members on the management team, so protecting that culture has always mattered. Now we’re around 100 employees but every Friday morning we still get bacon sandwiches and coffees for everyone. We also have a wall of fame with photos and fun facts about each person. Our first five external employees are still here ten years later.
How do you build sustainability into the business?
Starting with a clean sheet of paper has been a real advantage. Every new product starts with the question: can we use less material? We redesigned M&S’s prepared fruit packaging to cut plastic by around 15 per cent and developed a meat tray that removes the need for non-recyclable soaker pads. To date, we’ve processed nearly two billion recycled plastic bottles back into food packaging.
What do you do outside of work?
As a child, my dream job was to be a skydiving instructor or mountain climber. I’ve recently started ticking off some of those early ambitions, climbing Ben Nevis and Mount Kilimanjaro, with Mount Elbrus planned for next year. The climbs raise funds for Mobile Education Partnerships, which supports migrant and refugee communities on the Thai-Myanmar border. With small charities, you can see every penny goes directly towards making an impact.
