Talk about thinking outside the box.

Well, perhaps more accurately, inside the box.

Either way it’s a great example of a company pivoting – that word again – in response to changes in customer demand caused by the pandemic.

Because a business until now best known for binders, folders, wallets, Thermopacks and, yes, boxes has launched a new brand.

The Dorset Box Company is a specialist division of Nunet Ltd and early indications suggest that it’s going to pack a real punch.

Morgan Leadbitter, Managing Director, said: “The signs look very good.

“We started receiving interest and orders almost immediately after publishing our Instagram page.

“The feedback has been very encouraging and we’re already making boxes for a whole range of businesses from calligraphy pen sets to protein powders.”

Based at Three Legged Cross, The Dorset Box Company launched with a range of hand finished presentation and gift boxes available through a dedicated e-commerce site.

All are manufactured on site from sustainable board and covering papers and available in nine different sizes.

Morgan, a rugby enthusiast who is Chairman of East Dorset Dockers RFC, said The Dorset Box Company had come about as a direct result of the pandemic.

He said: “As with many businesses, the economic effects of Covid saw a sudden and continued drop in our sales across 2020.

“We continued to manufacture specialist products for a handful of customers whose industries and requirements remained unaffected.

“We also developed both a face visor and desk shield system with a welcome degree of success.

“Towards the middle of the year there was a noticeable increase in enquiries for boxes and custom-made packaging.

“We started working for people either starting their own business or moving large parts of their existing business, online.

“Our new customers told us that our skillset, product range, sustainable materials and local manufacturing were what the market lacked.

“We wrote `The Dorset Box Company’ on the whiteboard, and that was that.”

Among the businesses urging Nunet to launch a specialist service was Saporista, a specialist food and drink hamper company co-founded by Liz Titchmarsh.

“It’s fair to say that the encouragement we received from Liz acted as the icing on the cake when it came to making a decision about starting The Dorset Box Company,” said Morgan, 43.

Nunet, and The Dorset Box Company, employ eight people including Morgan’s brother, Corin, who is Operations Director.

Corin, 41, said: “It’s been hard work but massively rewarding creating the new brand.

“We seem to naturally fit into what our new customers are looking for – locally made products.

“We’re super confident in our low-carbon and responsibly made range of presentation boxes.

“We’re part of a closed loop recycling programme and are powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity.

“Most of all, we love talking to, and being part of, the success of growing businesses.

“The range of customer types, and their own products that we’re helping package, is already incredible.”

Apart from Saporista other early clients include Blank Canvas by Yvonne, creating beautiful and affordable jewellery and accessories using resin and other mediums, and skincare business, Spirit of Summer.

The Dorset Box Company is the latest development in an eventful 13 years for Nunet.

The business was founded in 2008 by Morgan and his father-in-law, Alan Carter.

Both had lost their jobs after their previous employer, Penguin Products Ltd, had fallen victim to the recession.

Morgan said: “Alan had some 25 years’ experience and I had been there three or four years.

“We looked at each other and said: ‘What are we going to do?

“I said: ‘Well, I need a job and your daughter – my wife – is pregnant.’

“We decided to make a go of it and do our own thing.

“All manner of contacts, friends and business associates were called on to help shape what we wanted, and the foundations were put in place to take things forward.

“We began trading in a living room, but by Spring 2009 we were in our first office.”

Two years later Nunet, at that time a distributor of products sourced from a small collective of UK manufacturing partners, completely changed its business model.

The purchase of Thermopacks, a specialist manufacturer of heat packs, cold packs and liquid-filled merchandise, provided the perfect opportunity to start its own manufacturing process.

Thermo remains a Nunet owned brand and product line to this day.

Four years ago the company, machinery and staff moved to its current premises on the Ashley Heath Industrial Estate.

The relocation coincided with a rebrand focusing on key product lines while the company’s ensuing growth saw investment in new people, machinery and the manufacturing process.

Morgan said Covid had hit Nunet hard with a drop in demand for training and promotional products leading to a 60 per cent decline in sales.

However, the rise of online businesses specialising in home deliveries had resulted in a significant increase in sales of boxes and demand for a quality, sustainable and locally produced product.

Morgan said: “We’re looking to make up some of the sales we’ve lost.

“Our mission is to become the UK’s local box maker.

“We’ll measure success by how well our customers are doing, by how many people we employ and by how sustainable our boxes continue to be.

“We’ll always make our boxes here.

“Expect to see the product range increase over the up-and-coming months.

“Postal cartons, hinged lid boxes and shouldered jewellery boxes are all planned and will be available to buy online.

“We’ll also be releasing limited editions; collaborations with local and international artists and designers.

“We’ll be continuously working on making the best possible boxes as sustainably as possible.”

• thedorsetboxcompany.co.uk