EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 UK Transformational Leader
Cullen’s owner David MacDonald was proudly announced EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 UK Transformational Leader winner at the recent EY Awards ceremony in Manchester.
David’s vision and drive for creating sustainable products and packaging that replace single-use plastic earned him recognition as a transformation leader. David leads an exceptional team of packaging experts, who are empowered, encouraged and supported to think innovatively and contribute to the growth and expansion of the business.
David’s passion for creating products and packaging from paper-based materials, that slip back into natures recycling system, has allowed him and the team to massively grow their sustainable product and packaging range and customer base. Cullen have produced over 1 billion plastic-free products since 2020 and are in 34 countries globally. Expansion plans mean they are on track to create over 120 new UK jobs and will increase production to over 1 billion products annually.
David has been a force of nature in the sustainable packaging movement and the recent launch of Cullen’s Fibre Bottle, a patented paper bottle for dry goods such as vitamins, spices, home cleaning and horticultural products to name a few, has propelled the established sustainable packaging business to new heights. Cullen can produce over 270million Fibre Bottles at scale, today, replacing millions of unnecessary plastic bottle, pouches and glass.
The Fibre Bottle is a market disrupting game changing scalable sustainable packaging solutions that major household brands are snapping up. David is incredibly proud of the creation, but also tempers its popularity by suggesting this is only the tip of what Cullen are capable of.
David said: “Winning this award is incredible recognition of what my team and I have achieved. We are continually pushing the packaging boundaries and believe there is simply no need for single-use plastic packaging. My amazing designers, engineers, manufacturing team and packaging experts can support brands to replace most of their plastic packaging, at scale and at a competitive price to plastic all within 1 month. It’s that simple, there really is no excuse not to change”
Sectors such as the medical, produce, food and drink, retail and industrial have benefitted from Cullen’s exceptional innovation, reliability and their market leading sustainable products. When asked how David has created such an impressive culture he commented: “We are a family business that has scaled massively, but the family values have always been intrinsic throughout. We have members of the team who have been with us for decades and have loyally helped drive our growth. We have an inclusive culture, and we recognise and reward commitment and talent with ongoing training and development opportunities. Our people really are our strength and ideas are encouraged from every member of the team. We believe in creating careers, not just jobs and we want to give people the scope to grow with the business and help us create change.”