Although he retired from the multi-award winning business two months ago and relocated to Jersey, we reckon we’re still in with a chance of spotting him at Drupa. Geoff is married with two children (son Sam now runs Geoff Neal Group), and his hobbies are golf and watching rugby union
Why did you get into printing?
My father was a bindery manager in a litho printing company in the Old Kent Road in London and I was allowed to go with him on a Saturday morning. It got in the blood and has never left me
What would be your dream job?
Organising world tours – which I then had to test out before the public were allowed to buy
Who or what do you hate the most?
Being ripped off. There is a price for everything but paying a lot and not getting what you expect makes me angry
Who do you admire most in the industry?
Andrew Pendrigh, latterly of Antalis but a McNaughtons man through and through – straight talking, will do a deal and knows how to have fun!
What is your favourite saying?
There is always time for a reprint
What is your favourite album?
Genesis, Three Sides Live
What is your favourite book?
Anything by Bernard Cornwell or a similar type author. I.e. historical novels about real times in our history, but there is always a James Bond like hero that wins the day
What is the strangest job you’ve had?
Tearing and screwing up paper to look like it had been thrown away and then boxing it up and sending it out as a DM piece
Who would you like to be stuck on a desert island with?
My wife… corny but I cannot think of anybody I would rather be with
What’s your greatest fear?
Getting old
Most embarrassing moment?
Asking an important client whether his steak tartare was well cooked and when he didn’t answer asking the question again! It was explained to me later what I had asked by a friend and I was very embarrassed and it still makes me cringe. I was very young
Where would you like to be now?
Where I am, which is in Jersey. I retired on 1 April this year and have moved here with my wife to set up a new life
What’s your worst fashion disaster?
Wide lapels bell bottom trousers and kipper ties which were all fashionable in the 1970s and I loved at the time
Where would you go if you could time-travel?
It would be fun to jump ahead 34 years and attend a Drupa in 2050 to see where our industry has got to
What is the worst kind of print?
One done without out care, it can be the best job in the world but if the details aren’t right it looks shoddy and it drives me crazy
What was the best business deal that you’ve pulled off?
Buying our first XL in 2010. It was the height of the recession and I had set my mind on purchasing a nearly-new secondhand press to replace an ageing one that had to go. But after our visit to Ipex that all changed and we bought an XL and it proved to be the best decision we ever made
How would you like to be remembered?
Honest, fair and a man of my word
