Custom packaging services for Reading businesses
Our packaging services start with your unique product, its dimensions, and its audience.
Cosmetics and food brands tend to suit folding cartons, online sellers suit mailers, and gift-led businesses suit presentation boxes, including gift boxes with foil or embossing.
Tell us what you are packing and how it is sold, and we’ll recommend a box format and send a written quote.
Printed packaging and mailer boxes for Reading brands
Every format below is fully bespoke, made to your product’s own dimensions as custom boxes with printed packaging on every panel.
Your brand shows however the pack ends up sitting on a shelf, a stockroom floor or a doorstep.
Mailer boxes and the unboxing experience
A custom mailer box is printed inside and out and sized to the product, so it protects the contents through the courier network.
The branded boxes also make the unboxing experience part of your marketing.
Custom printed boxes in this format carry artwork inside and out, so the reveal continues when the lid opens.
Retail packaging and display units
Retail packaging has to sell the product with nobody there to explain it.
Reverse tuck-end cartons suit lighter goods like supplements and beauty products, while a crash-lock base (a bottom that locks into shape with one push) holds heavier items without a collapse.
For counters and shelves, we also make retail-ready packaging and printed display units, including free standing display units for products that sell at the till.
Wallets, sleeves and gusset boxes
A wallet-style box folds around flatter products such as cards or cosmetics sets, and a printed sleeve slides over a tray or an existing box to add branding without a full redesign.
A gusseted e-commerce box has extra depth for bulkier or awkwardly shaped items, which makes it a useful alternative when a standard mailer is too shallow for the product.
Each of these formats is printed and cut to order, with no minimum order.
Gift boxes and premium finishes
Make a great first impression, right from delivery with Custom Pack Studio.
Foil stamping adds a metallic accent that catches the light on a shelf.
Spot UV picks out a logo or pattern against a matt background, and soft-touch lamination gives the box a smooth feel in the hand.
Embossing adds a raised logo you can feel. We suggest choosing one finish to lead with, because several finishes on one box compete for the eye.
Shipping boxes and cardboard boxes
Make a great first impression, right from delivery with Custom Pack Studio.
Our custom shipping boxes help your brand create that special unboxing moment to make an impact and build up customer loyalty.
Branded packaging that carries your brand
For branded packaging, we build the structure around your product and place the print so it reads properly on every side.
Because every panel is printed to your artwork, you can personalise the box inside and out, which a stock template box does not allow.
Templates, sleeves and bespoke structures
A standard template box can be a sensible first test while you work out what you need.
But they don’t help customers differentiate what makes your product and brand special.
A bespoke packaging solution built around its exact size usually wastes less board and protects it better in transit, while showing your brand in the best light.
If you only want customised packaging for only part of the pack, a printed sleeve slides over an existing tray and adds your branding without redesigning the whole box. It suits seasonal lines and short promotions, and it keeps the cost of testing a new look low.
Plain packaging suits products where the box is mainly protection. But where the box is part of what the customer is buying, custom printed packaging is well worth the extra thought.
Custom packaging for Reading food, beauty and online brands
Food and drink producers need packaging that is safe in contact with the product, and our BRC Global Packaging certification at High Hygiene level covers our food packaging work.
Small runs of cartons and sleeves let a new bakery, coffee roaster or sauce maker print a first batch without buying a pallet of stock. A sample lets you see how a carton holds up before you order a run.
Beauty, supplement and jewellery brands use foil, soft-touch finishes and fitted gift boxes.
Online sellers and subscription businesses order mailers, and a reorder from the same approved artwork keeps every box identical.
No minimum order, whatever the quantity
There is no minimum order at Custom Pack Studio, whether you need 1 box or 10,000, so minimum order quantities never decide how you launch a product.
You can request a single sample to check the fit and print quality, order fifty boxes for a launch, or place your packaging order for several thousand once a retailer confirms a listing.
The process is the same at every quantity.
Unit cost falls as quantities rise, and reorders reuse your approved artwork, so repeat business never pays for design work twice.
We confirm price and lead time in writing before production starts, so the quote and the invoice match.
Packaging design support, whatever stage you’re at
A logo and a rough idea of what you want is enough to begin, if you don’t have artwork ready made.
Our team works out the box structure, builds print-ready artwork, and sends you a proof to approve before anything reaches a press, so you see exactly what will be made.
If all you have is a screenshot or a low-resolution file, we rebuild it to proper print specification and check the colour and bleed (the extra print area that stops white edges appearing after cutting), so professional packaging does not depend on you owning design software.
To talk it through first, book a design consultation.
If you like building things yourself, our online design tool lets you customise a box and see it in 3D before you commit to boxes designed to your measurements.
Packaging made in-house at our Irvine factory
Cutting, printing and finishing all happen at our Irvine factory, and a friendly team handles your order from enquiry to delivery.
KennedySmith (Press) Ltd has run presses in Scotland since 1997, and Custom Pack Studio launched in 2025 to bring that print experience to smaller orders.
The factory also works in line with ISO 14001 environmental practice.
Eco-friendly packaging materials
All our packaging materials are 100% recyclable, and the board carries FSC and PEFC certification, so it can be traced back to responsibly managed forests.
For food packaging, BRC Global Packaging certification at High Hygiene level means the box is made under controlled, traceable conditions. Tell us whether the box will touch the food directly and we’ll advise on the construction.
You can read more about our approach on the environmental page.
UK delivery to Reading
From Irvine to Berkshire
We manufacture in Scotland and deliver custom packaging across the UK, so every order has an honest and accurate leadtime.
Production usually takes two to three weeks from proof sign-off, and finished boxes then reach Reading and the rest of Berkshire within a day or two.
Lead times and launch dates
Because everything is made in Irvine, there is no overseas shipment to wait on.
If you have a launch date, tell us when you enquire and we’ll say plainly whether the timeline is realistic.
Delivery works the same way whether your premises are in Caversham, Tilehurst or Woodley, or further out in Wokingham, Bracknell, Newbury or Thatcham.
Boxes arrive flat, so they are quick to unpack and store until you need them.
How the custom packaging process works
- Call or email us with your product, roughly how many boxes you need, and how you sell it.
- We recommend a box format, build the artwork and send a proof, with a physical sample for trickier structures.
- Once you approve the proof, our team starts production at the Irvine factory.
- Your finished boxes are couriered to your Reading address, packed flat and ready to assemble.
FAQs on ordering custom packaging in Reading
What is the minimum order for custom packaging in Reading?
There is no minimum order, so a single box works as a test. If you want to check the finish first, you can ask for a sample before committing to a run.
Can I use my own packaging design?
Send your artwork to the team, or build it in our online design tool, and we’ll check the file against print specification. You approve a proof before production begins.
Do you supply packaging for food businesses?
Food packaging is covered by our High Hygiene BRC certification, and if you tell us whether the box touches the food directly and what the product weighs, we’ll advise on the construction.
How long does custom packaging take to arrive?
Most orders take two to three weeks from proof approval, plus a day or two for courier delivery to Reading. Simpler cartons can sometimes move faster.
What is your packaging made from?
Boxes are made from FSC and PEFC certified board and are fully recyclable. For cartons, we use folding board, and for shipping boxes we use corrugated board.
Looking for custom packaging in Reading? Get your free quote
Browse our full range of packaging products or request a free sample to feel the finish before you commit.
Our case studies show finished packaging made for brands we have worked with.
Call 01294 314 919 or email contact@custompackstudio.co.uk with what you’re packing, and we’ll send back a written quote listing the format, the quantity and the delivery date for your Reading address.
