Company news Jones Hands Over The Baton At Pensord

Jones Hands Over The Baton At Pensord

Jones Hands Over The Baton At Pensord

This is the dawn of a new era at award-winning sheet-fed magazine printer Pensord. A new team of familiar faces takes the helm of the company following a management buyout by two of the senior directors, members of outgoing chief executive Tony Jones and finance director Graham Lambert’s team – a team that has built the company into one of the strongest and best known in the industry.

Leading the company into its 42nd year are new managing director Darren Coxon with fellow director Karl Gater as operations director as they look to sustain and build on the £12m turnover business that has just recorded its best ever first half performance in both sales and profits.

Tony Jones said: “When I led my own management buyout in 2003 I felt it was the best route to turning an under-performing company around, and I now feel as a team we’ve achieved that objective, the job is done. It’s time for Graham and me to look for new challenges, secure in the knowledge that an MBO is again the best way to continue the legacy at Pensord. When we recruited both Darren and Karl, I was looking for people with the expertise in their fields who shared our ideology in creating a unique culture at Pensord. I am delighted that they will now succeed us to continue that culture into the future. This is a special company with special people working in it, and I have every faith that Darren and Karl will sustain and build on the success we’ve enjoyed as they take the company forward.

Darren and Karl will inherit a company that has become a real force in magazine printing, with a team of 143 Pensord People, and over 380 mostly controlled circulation magazine titles in its care, along with an enviable reputation in the industry for its sense of values. Pensord has won the Printer of the Year award and recognition for employee development, evidenced by Investors in People status, and consistently sustained its commitment to the publishing industry through close associations over the years with the PPA, including its role as inaugural Independent Publishers’ Advisory Council (IPAC) Strategic Partner.

Darren was recruited as commercial director to develop the customer-facing areas of the business prior to the MBO which took place in 2003, with Pensord under-performing and lacking clear direction. He said: “As a team we’ve done a fantastic job and Tony and Graham have been exceptional; we’ve come a long way in 7 years. I’m really proud to have been part of the management team that helped shape that development, and hugely excited to take Pensord onto its next stage of evolution. It will be very much business as usual, based on Tony’s legacy and the values that have underpinned everything we’ve been doing here since the MBO in 2003. When he led the MBO in 2003, Tony made a number of pledges, all of them achieved in the subsequent seven years. These included:

  • Doubling the size of the business in five years
  • Significant investment, in excess of £8m in new kit, and also in Pensord People, achieving Investor in People status.
  • The establishment of the Pensord Charter which formalises the business ethics and teamwork on which the company operates, and places the customer at the focal point
  • A staff Stakeholder Scheme to give Pensord People a share of the business
  • The Pensord Charitable Trust, which to date has raised over £45,000 for local charity, the Hospice of the Valleys.

    Now Darren and Karl are looking to build on these strong foundations, with a pledge to:

  • Embark on a further programme of investment, with another 8 colour press scheduled for early 2011; new CtP equipment; and additional bindery investment
  • Expand the Pensord Health Check, the challenge for customers to gain even greater efficiencies
  • Even greater focus on digital platforms
  • Expand further the people first culture which has been key to Pensord’s success

Karl Gater joined Pensord as Operations Director in 2008 and said: “I’ve always shared Pensord’s people-focused approach to business - people make a company, and you have to look after them, take them with you and develop them to be successful. The culture and foundations are all in place for us to go forward, and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

Graham will remain in place to help appoint his successor.  Both Tony and Graham will be assisting the new team to ensure a smooth transition, before considering new business challenges in the future.