Member Article

Cramlington’s Potts Prints to report a record £1 million plus operating profit

Potts Print, the Cramlington-based printing, packaging and direct mail specialist, will report a record operating profit for 2014 of £1 million plus.

The company’s plan to invest more than £3 million in capital equipment in 2015 has already begun, with installations by AGFA and Xerox completed in January.

In addition, a new six-colour Heidelberg printing press will arrive in February and is expected to be up and running by the end of the month, printing 15,000 full colour sheets per hour.

Of course, none of the above could be achieved without the continued investment in people, an aspect in which the company prides itself.

To keep an organisation with a 160-strong workforce operational, 24/7, needs dedicated staff along with a focussed and committed senior management team.

To ensure that the current momentum is maintained, a number of promotions have been announced by the company, with six new directors and four department heads recently appointed.

Keith McHugh and Iain McDougal have taken up positions as Technical Directors in the newly launched Large Format Printing Division.

Kevin Brown and Brian Watson join the Supervisory Board as Operations and Production Director respectively, with the role of Client Services Director being awarded to Tom Groves and Training & Development Director to Rob Curtis. Both of whom join the Business Development Board.

In addition to the directorial appointments, the following managers have been promoted to be ‘Head of’ their respective departments; Sarah Bailey in Client Services; Michael Johnson in Production; Michael Blake in Purchasing; and Paul Murphy in Systems & Accreditations.

With more than 150 years of printing industry experience between them, they bring a wealth of knowledge at senior management level and are expected to play a significant part in the company’s ongoing commercial development.

This will include active involvement in the company’s recruitment drive for all departmental divisions planned for April 2015.

Potts’ Chief Executive, Michael Sandford-Couch, said: “We intend to use this fantastic result as a springboard for a long term strategy, to develop and expand all divisions of the business lithographic and digital printing, direct mail, large format printing and high-end printed packaging.”