Henry Cubbon, regional director (UK & Ireland), said the group would respond to market conditions by creating an environment allowing the business to grow over the next five years.

Antalis reported a 7% fall in sales in its first-half results, with operating profits rising 5.5% to 9.6m and net losses halved to 5m (PrintWeek, 2 October).

The new investment will include a scheme so that all of Antalis delivery drivers can become ambassadors. It will involve training initiatives, and they will be given information on products.

Antalis will apply its own standards for excellence across services such as sales, logistics, procurement, finance and marketing.

It is also working towards ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation.

Other investments include an Intranet Protocol (IP) system, to be introduced next year. This will provide a voice recognition system linked to Antalis internal system, and will provide instant display of client information for its inside sales team.

Antalis is also introducing Sherpa, a CRM tool. All field sales operatives will be given laptops and Sherpa software, allowing them to prioritise their workload and view customer data.

Antalis Dartford branch and warehouse is also on schedule to be completed by December 2003, and operational early next year.

Story by Andy Scott