Business - Appointments

Shaun Thompson has been appointed as General Manager of Graphic Printing Technologies (GPT). Shaun was one of the founders of GPT and has been the company’s Sales Director since its acquisition by Amari Plastics plc in 2010.

Andy Carroll, Chief Operating Officer for Amari Plastics, comments, “GPT has become one of the UK’s most established and successful wide format printing solutions providers. The company has built a strong reputation based on a heavy focus towards consultancy, training and support as well having solid relationships with key manufacturers. Shaun has always been an instrumental part of GPT’s success and we are delighted that he is now taking the position of General Manager to drive the business forward.”

Shaun has more than 15 years experience in the wide format industry at GPT, AIT, Andersons and Colourgen. He was the co-founder of GPT in 2008 and has been instrumental in its rapid growth to become one of the UK’s premier resellers of solutions from leading manufacturers, such as Mimaki, Agfa, Canon and Epson. Carroll adds, “GPT has significant potential for further growth and is focusing on developing existing and building new relationships with suppliers and customers. The company provides a safe pair of hands for manufacturers looking to increase market share through a highly professional sales and service operation.”

Shaun Thompson adds, “I am delighted to take up this position and look forward to helping the company continue its progress and meet its objectives. We will be looking to grow the business in terms of key personnel that will help us increase sales and maintain our reputation for high class service and support.”

Patrick Martell, Chief Executive of St Ives Group, has been appointed as Ipex 2014 President. In this role, Patrick will chair the Ipex 360 Committee, which will be a visitor focussed steering group that will see representatives from the whole value chain, including agencies, small to large print service providers and end users of print, meet in the coming months to discuss and advise on the successful delivery of the 2014 show (24th – 29th March 2014, London ExCeL, UK).

Commenting on his appointment as Ipex 2014 President, Patrick Martell says: “It was an honour to be asked to undertake the role as Ipex President to support the Ipex 2014 organisers in delivering a world class ‘must attend’ event that meets the needs of visitors and exhibitors alike. Ipex 2014 is an international industry showcase on the future of print, demonstrating its crucial role in contemporary marketing communications, which aligns perfectly with St Ives’ vision and business objectives.

“In my role as Ipex President, I will be working closely with the Ipex 360 Committee to ensure the extensive and unique content programme reflects the print industry’s latest issues and trends. The show’s many visitors will benefit not only from the technologies at the show, but also have the opportunity to see, learn and be inspired by the latest applications which are helping to ensure print delivers measurable results as part of the multi-channel marketing mix.”

Patrick Martell joined St Ives Group in 1980. He was appointed a director of St Ives’ book publishing arm, Clays, in 1994 and became its Managing Director in 2000. Appointed to the St Ives Group board in 2003, he has since held the positions of Managing Director Media Products and Managing Director – UK Operations. Patrick was appointed as the Group’s Chief Executive in April 2009.

Epson UK has appointed Phil McMullin as UK sales manager for its Professional Graphics business unit.

Phil joins the company from Spandex and comments, “I am delighted to be joining the Pro Graphics team.  Epson has a good position in the market and I aim to make it the supplier of choice in all our Pro Graphics markets, with particular focus on the signage sector. By continuing to offer outstanding value to our customers and partners, I am confident that I can strengthen relationships and further develop the Epson brand.”

Phil began working within the graphics supplies sector over 20 years ago, first as production sales specialist with Kodak, followed by roles at Xerox including digital colour specialist and channel sales manager. He then joined Epson distributor Spandex, as hardware sales manager responsible for the UK sales of solvent inkjet, thermal printers, routers, cutters and software. For the past eight years he has headed up media sales at Spandex, with responsibility for delivering a world class customer service experience.

Phil will report into UK managing director, Tony Petford who said, “Phil’s wide range of skills and considerable knowledge of the graphic arts industry, particularly in the signage sector, make him an important addition to Epson’s UK Pro Graphics team at a time when we are rapidly expanding our range of solutions for the market.”

All Print Supplies (APS) has expanded its sales team with the appointment of Peter Miles to the position of Textile Product Specialist.  He will head up the company’s newly created digital textile division and will focus on introducing APS’s growing range of textile substrates and compatible inks to printers and sign makers.

Says Kevin Wallace, Managing Director, All Print Supplies, “The wide format textile sector is experiencing double digit growth year on year and has a great future ahead of it. This has been driven in part by a dramatic improvement over recent years in the quality and versatility of wide format machines, which in turn has opened up huge opportunities for printers.

“A number of our customers are moving into textile printing to grow their product portfolio and revenue streams, so as a specialist wide format media and inks provider, it makes sense for us to expand our offering to ensure we can meet their needs in this regard as well.  The appointment of Peter and the formation of the new division will enable us to formally focus our efforts on a very exciting market.”

Peter Miles brings with him over 10 years’ experience in the print industry, most recently as a specialist sales manager for CMYuk’s textile division.  At All Print Supplies, he will oversee all aspects of the company’s new digital print textile range, from researching and introducing new products to the market, to sales and customer service.    He comments, “I have a broad base of experience of taking textiles including latex, UV, solvent and dye sublimation products to market and I’m very enthusiastic about the opportunity to help APS make a real impact in the textile sector.  The company is a very impressive operation and has all the technical facilities in place to be able to provide support for customers who are looking to move into this market, including a fully-equipped testing laboratory and profiling across various printer, RIP and ink platforms. It’s got a rich heritage in the print industry and invests in really understanding its core markets, so I‘m confident together we can make a great success in the textiles sector too.”

Kevin Wallace concludes, “The Textile Product Specialist is a newly created role and reflects our commitment to building our brand and product portfolio in this market. Peter’s immediate challenge is to help customers understand that there are robust, quality alternatives to ‘just’ dye sublimation on textiles. And, that printers and sign makers already have the answer to this in their existing wide format machines.  Printing textiles on their own wide format machines will give them more control over deadlines and quality as well as more profit in their pocket.  This is the message we’re taking to the market – we want to work with our customers to help them diversify, expand their product portfolio and maximise the real potential of their machines. The launching of our new textiles division and the appointment of Peter is the next step in this process.”

Paul Vanderweide has been named Operations Manager for Drytac Canada.  In his new role, Vanderweide will be responsible for the coating, converting and distribution of all Drytac products from the Concord- and Brampton-Ontario facilities and will oversee both production and quality control at both locations. Additionally, in response to Drytac’s recent acquisition of Toronto-based adhesive coating company Multi-Tac Inc., he will closely liaise with customers and suppliers throughout North America and Europe.

“Thanks to the Multi-Tac acquisition, we are better equipped to provide custom coating solutions to our North American customers. The possibilities are truly endless,” states Richard Kelley, Drytac Chairman & CEO. “With the addition of Paul Vanderweide, we can strengthen existing Multi-Tac and Drytac customer and supplier relationships to ensure we’re considered a valuable partner.”

Prior to joining Drytac, Vanderweide served as President of Macula Technik Inc., Canada’s leading independent service provider of large format digital imaging equipment. While there, he established and managed a technical support team that garnered an industry-wide reputation for first-class service and support.

For more information on Drytac, please visit www.drytac.com

Bob Usher, Managing Director of Apex Digital Graphics, has been elected as Chairman of Picon, the UK association of print industry manufacturers and suppliers.  He succeeds Peter Morris, CEO of Friedheim UK, who has completed his two-year term.

Like Peter, a top priority for Bob will be to increase the effectiveness of the UK print industry’s representations to government and other bodies, and he believes the recent formation of the Graphic Print & Media Alliance (GPMA) will provide a major boost to lobbying efforts.  “Peter deserves a lot of credit for his role in bringing together the seven trade associations that form the GPMA.  The UK print, media and graphic arts industry now has the opportunity to find a stronger, louder collective voice and appeal successfully for the support we deserve as the country’s sixth largest industry.  I shall be working hard with the other GPMA members to bring other trade bodies on board.”

Another early objective for Bob will be working to ensure the success of Ipex 2014.  “It’s important for the UK printing industry that Ipex continues to be successful, and I expect the new venue and a host of new features for Ipex 2014 to cement its position as a significant international exhibition.  We shall do all we can to support the organisers by encouraging all Picon members to exhibit.”  He also aims to continue broadening the membership of Picon, with a particular focus on attracting new members from the digital and cross-media sectors.

“Picon is in excellent hands with Bob as Chairman for the next two years,” says Peter Morris.  “The depth of industry experience he brings to the role, particularly from the digital side, will benefit members considerably as the implications for digital technology within the industry become clearer.  For myself, I look back on the last two years with pleasure and pride, especially the creation of the GPMA as an umbrella industry organisation for a previously disparate collection of sector representatives.”

Bob has worked in the printing industry since 1966.  He started as a technician with Rotaprint, then joined AM Multigraphics, followed by Itek Graphic Products. He founded Apex Reprographics in 1989 which became Apex Digital Graphics in 1995 following the introduction of CtP technology. Today the company is the UK distributor for Ryobi presses and supplies Konica Minolta digital presses.

Picon’s recent AGM also elected Andy Cook, Managing Director of FFEI, to the Picon Council, which now comprises the following: Tim Klemz, Compact Engineering; Ron Chambers, Kadant; Gerard Heanue, Heidelberg; Peter Morris, Friedheim International; Keith Dalton, Fujifilm UK Ltd; Robert Flather, Kolbus; Neil Sutton, Komori; Quen Baum, Morgana; Brian Filler, Screen.  Picon has also announced three new member companies:  thermoplastic extrusion specialists C&K Extrusions, and digital press specialists MGI Technology and Ricoh.