Which, if true, must make a select group of printers quite the soothsayers. These are the companies that are in the 100 club: they’ve been putting ink on paper beyond 100 years and are still thriving today. 

Such longevity is impressive in an industry that is cut-throat, turbulent and where small decisions can have a huge and significant impact: too many doors have closed for good following a rash expansion, a foolish purchase or a trust pushed too far. 

So what does this select group of printers have to offer by way of advice to those coming behind? What are the secrets of eternal printing life?

At a basic level, the recipe for longevity is short and simple, says Shaun Tout, owner of Exeter-based Besley & Copp, founded in 1750 by Henry Besley: “Good management, a good team and plenty of luck.”

But of course there’s more to it than that. So we have quizzed some of the country’s oldest printers to find out how they’ve stayed the course. 

1 Core principles are key

“Henry  got most of it right to start with,” explains Tout. “We still uphold many of Henry’s original values, acting more like ‘custodians’ of the business for future generations.”

Knowing where you started, so you know where you are going, is a key component of longevity in print it seems. 

“Over the years the business has not changed fundamentally and has always retained a ‘family’ feel,” says Jon F Sherlock, sales and marketing director at Stockport printers Deanprint. “The company has always tried to offer as broad a range of services as possible, and to do things that others didn’t.”

Deanprint can trace its routes back as far 1871 when the Travel Agency Dean & Dawson bought a printing press to produce their own posters and flyers. 

Nearly as old is Leach in Huddersfield, which began life in 1890. Managing director Richard Leach explains that his grandfather set up the business as a 20-year-old and instilled a taste for experimentation in the DNA that has lasted. 

“A passion for progressively pushing boundaries has remained,” he explains. 

John Tugman, commercial print director of BrunelPrint, a company that printed its first jobs with steam-powered presses, says his company found a niche early on printing bags for grocery stores and turned it into something of a specialism.

He says: “Over 170 years on and our business is still centred on helping clients to exploit the latest in printing technologies to create deeper relationships with their customers.”

While markets, products and people can change, having a strong sense of who they are seems to give these companies a purpose that drives decisions and turns ‘luck’ into very educated guesses. So perhaps a core set of values that frame decisions is crucial to success. 

2 Stability can be important…

“We have always been a book printer, it sometimes seems as if nothing much has changed in the last 186 years!” says Stephen Docherty, managing director at Glasgow based Bell & Bain. 

The firm was founded in 1831 by James Bell and Andrew Bain. They had been working together since 1822 at another printer and left to set up on their own.

Like many of the printers who have lasted the pace of change over more than century, Bell & Bain’s owners of course made changes to how it worked, but there has always been a core market for the business that they knew and excelled in. While technology may change how that is done, the fundamentals have stayed the same. 

“As a traditional book printer, we are not totally unrecognisable from the early days,” says Doherty. “If Mr Bell and Mr Bain walked in today they would see flat sheets printed, being folded and made into books. Technology has just made it all look a little different to 1831.”

Sherlock says it has been a similar story at Deanprint. 

“Technology and slicker working practices have made an enormous difference in the way we work, but we still produce the same types of products,” he explains. 

Stability can also come in terms of staffing and management, says Richard Leach. 

“In more than 125 years, Leach has only ever had four managing directors. So much has to be said for the stability that this brings,” explains Richard. “I’d go so far as to say it cascades throughout the entire organisation too. We have extremely strong staff retention levels so, whilst new talent is always coming in as we grow, our knowledge base continues to expand because employees are loyal, long-standing and motivated.

“We therefore have vital industry experience from the top management level, through to our designers, technical specialists and print finishers. In fact, our experience totals more than 1,000 years combined – and counting!”

John McMillan, managing director of Johnsons of Nantwich, believes his firm is the longest-standing commercial printer in the UK. The company in its current form dates back to 1827 although McMillan says it grew out of another business that goes back a few years further. And while he doesn’t claim the company’s 190-year history is responsible for winning work, he does think it helps

“I like to think customers know that we’re not going anywhere,” he says.

While stability does not mean not expanding, it does mean having a base you know well, that you can offer all the added value on because of that knowledge, and that you can be comfortable in. It also means trusting managers to do the job and having faith in them, valuing experience. You need a base to jump from, or as Doherty says: “It’s also about not being greedy and instead doing what’s best for the business.”

3 …but knowing when to change tack can be essential to survival

Over the course of 100 years or more, consumer and business tastes change, so some markets decline while new sectors and opportunities arise. Knowing when to stick or twist is tough, but many of the long-life printers seem to have made the call at exactly the right time. 

Take Shipley-based Collisions. It was set up in 1909 by Levi Collison and has printed personalised Christmas Cards for individuals and businesses for much of that time. But as tastes changed, those in charge saw a requirement to diversify and seized it. 

“Christmas cards are still a major part of our business today but the Christmas card market has undoubtedly declined over the years and Collisons branched out into other forms of personalised greeting cards, predominately wedding stationery,” explains Mike Lammas, general manager. “Collisons is now one of the UK’s biggest wedding stationery producers through our own brands and fulfilment for large high-street retailers and mail order companies.”

Integrity Print, which joined the 100 club last year, has had a similar journey. The Radstock-based company was run by the same family until 1988 and since 2008 has been run by managing director Mark Cornford following an MBO. Sales and marketing director Andrew Law says the company has been through necessary changes of focus and much of this has been brought about through the purchase of other companies, rather than the original company trying to go it alone.  

“Standard Check [the original name of the company] originally produced multi-part receipt books for the retail trade,” he explains. “However there have been enormous changes in the range of work the company undertakes: key developments since the MBO have been entry into the labels market through the acquisition of Toplflite Labels and the development of a transactional laser and mailing division. Further acquisitions have strengthened our market reach, A1 Security Print boosting our security print and export channels, Alliance labels and C&P Packaging helping to develop the labels offering.”

Likewise Johnsons’ McMillan says his firm has always tried to grow slowly but steadily, while continually adopting new technology when there is a strong commercial argument to do so.

“We were the first company in the UK to install an end-to-end Agfa large-format system,” he says. “But we also have machines that are in use every day that were installed in the 1950s – Heidelberg Cylinders and Platens,” he says.

The Agfa system, comprising an Asanti RIP, Anapurna printer and Acorta cutting table, is enabling it to better serve the latest market it has moved into – POS, in which it is now supplying national brands.

Knowing when and how to make the move is, of course, not an exact science. These companies seem to have had a knack for survival but it is one that has arisen from points four and five. 

4 Being unafraid to do something different can lead to success

“Like my grandfather, we, as people, are big believers in innovation,” explains Richard Leach. “In fact we have a dedicated innovations team, for example, who are committed to exploring industry-first solutions. I’d say 50% of our new products are client-led, i.e. we work with clients to develop prototypes that will solve their evolving retail challenges, for instance. But the other 50% are very much Leach-driven. We have engineers, designers, product specialists, print experts and more, within the innovations team, and this pool of rich expertise means they’re anticipating opportunities before clients even realise they have them. They devise solutions that clients didn’t even think would be possible, such as atmospheric displays that enable hero products, lighting and graphics to all be built in to one magnetised structure.”

Of course, success does not have to be about the creation of new markets, it can be being brave enough to shun them for an alternative you think suits the company better, as Deanprint has demonstrated. 

“There was something of a change in direction back in the 1980s when the company decided not to become just a colour litho printer like everyone else, and offer its services as a print finisher as well,” says Sherlock. 

As many a firm has demonstrated, following the pack can be comforting but also prove disastrous. What the companies that last have shown is that, sometimes, being out on your own is not so bad a choice to make. 

5 Longevity depends on the right decisions at the right time

“We’re making important decisions on a day-to-day basis, which shape the future of Leach,” explains Richard Leach. “[So] the key thing is to make these decisions with a calm, level head and a long-term focus. Yes, we always have to be agile. But we rarely make a decision based just on the ‘here and now’ benefit. We’re always knitting the outcome into the bigger picture.”

Doherty says this wider view is particularly important when it comes to buying kit – it has to be needs-based not driven by vanity or a hope that the market will go your way. 

“If you can last for 186 years those in charge must have made a lot of good decisions,” he says. “We always just try to give our customers what they want and always try to solve bottlenecks in the factory. If capacity is the problem we know we need to look at a solution and that usually means buying a new press as we did six months ago. If your binder is not fast enough, you need to go and get yourself a better and faster binder.”

Sometimes, of course, a move to take a company forwards can have consequences that are unpopular. Taking the tough decisions is definitely part of being a company that lasts through time, says Tout. 

“Print manufacturing requires serious investment, and as a result of over-capacity and increased competition, in 2001 the business took the decision to move to a print management model,” he explains. “Being service-based it was now able to use this over-capacity to it’s advantage, but continue to use its manufacturing experience to gain trust with its customer base.”

6 The long-term plan has to be flexible but purposeful

Seeing the opportunity in market developments early is always useful,  says Integrity’s Law.

“Challenges always throw up opportunities,” he says. “A great example of this is the explosion of internet shopping. We have developed unique products for this sector that have delivered sales of £9m per annum, producing despatch notes, integrated shipping labels and barcoded return labels. We will continue to embrace technology and use it to support sales of both printed and non printed client communications.”

Leach adds that you need a long-term plan but you can’t put  all your eggs in one basket – print is too changeable for that. 

“The velocity and magnitude of change means print businesses can only plan, in earnest, three-to-five years at a time. Those plans have to be extremely fluid, with incremental reflections and adaptations before the next push forwards,” he explains.

But Doherty also points out that expectations of change have to be realistic: experience tells him it is rarely as transformative as some may expect: “The next 100 years probably won’t bring as much change as people think, hopefully we will still see people reading books!”

7 Finally, succession planning and a post-print ambition are a must

“What will the next 100 years bring?” asks Tout. “Hopefully, new owners, continued success for the business and retirement to the Cayman Islands!”

Well, we all need something to aim for... 

How to leverage a strong company history for marketing

Trevor Palmer, director at public relations firm Tank, writes: “For businesses with centuries of history, the PR potential can be huge; it’s a gift to work with them. What they and their senior members of the team are privy to is context, memorable anecdotes, deep understanding of their sector, and credibility.

After all, despite the highs and lows of the economy, a firm that is still operating, profitable and present in the business world after this long is most definitely durable and flexible and hopefully still has bags of future potential - with the right management team. The good thing is that the story assets of the past can help cement the success of the future.

I have worked with a few businesses that are over 100 years old - the eldest being one that is now almost 200 years old. I have learned that to rely on the age itself is quite lazy and, while that will generate some coverage, businesses still need to inject great ideas and make the past relevant to the challenges of today. They can and should celebrate the milestones, but shouldn’t expect acres of coverage by just saying ‘We’re 100, aren’t we great’.

Businesses need to do more than this. Working for an innovative (and well aged) labelling firm, we pulled out examples of past innovation - juxtaposing the great client solutions of the past with the present. Working for an old roofing firm, we suggested and contributed to dying craft features in national newspapers to help demonstrate how crafts were penetrating new sectors to survive - in this case the film industry and modern architecture. We also secured tonnes of coverage using the milestone to discuss skills shortages.

Being old and vastly experienced also gives a business more clout in awards - especially if they can demonstrate how they have successfully adapted to new market challenges.

For those businesses that do hold milestone anniversary events, the harder they work to find and invite the oldest living employees, clients and re-discover past treasures and stories - the more the natural stories will flow and evolve. It’s like opening a very good can of worms, and the collateral can be used for perhaps a year to come in PR and other marketing disciplines.”