Company news Tony Jones takes ownership of Pensord

Tony Jones takes ownership of Pensord

Tony Jones takes ownership of Pensord

Pensord Chief Executive Tony Jones has become owner of the £7 million turnover sheet-
fed printer following his successful management buyout from Allen, McGuire & Partners
- and announced immediate plans to give the company an even sharper ‘Pensord edge’.

Jones becomes owner of the 120 staff company following three years as CEO, and aims to more than double the size of the company within the next five years. Pensord prints over 150 magazine titles for a range of UK publishers including Trinty Mirror; Centaur Communications; IPC; and a number of smaller entrepreneurial publishing houses.

In true entrepreneurial fashion, funding for the initiative was independently secured by Jones himself, without the need to call on the public purse.

For Jones, this is the natural progression in a successful career that has taken him from senior roles in media sales and marketing, television, radio and newspapers, into the print industry, where he used his marketing skills to revamp the S&G Print Group to give it one of the highest industry profiles in the UK. Jones would become joint Chief Executive at S&G, before moving across the Welsh valleys to head up Pensord three years ago.

Since then he has been making strategic operational and personnel changes, building a new Board, which was recently complemented by the arrival of Commercial Director Darren Coxon. Jones says: “Pensord is an exceptional company with great prospects. I have a fine team here, and we aim to make Pensord a real force in UK printing, with a reputation for the highest levels of efficiency and service. My whole career has been building to this point, and I am very excited about what lies ahead for everyone involved at Pensord.”

Jones has already implemented investment plans, with an immediate commitment to invest in equipment worth over £2m this year. Pensord will become a Heidelberg house with the installation of the latest specification 8 unit perfector press – the first installation of its kind in the UK.

He is also eager to push ahead with innovative management measures that reflect his vision of an ethical print business, one which may be judged on its honesty and integrity. Stepping stones to this include plans to introduce Charters for staff; customers; and suppliers.

Jones draws on his experience working within the media in his relationships with publishers. He says: “I have always worked as a partner with publishers. The MBO won’t change our focus on the pursuit of excellence for the customer, it should serve to sharpen that focus. As an owner-managed business we are able to be far more responsive to market changes and customer needs.”

A spokesman for Allen, McGuire said: “Tony Jones was the right man for the job three years ago when we brought him in to head up Pensord. We are delighted that it is Tony who is now taking the company on, and we wish him and everyone involved at Pensord the very best for the future.”