TJ International restructures operations with new hires

Book manufacturer TJ International has restructured its operations and appointed two manufacturing and book professionals to its newly formed executive team.

The new team, which became effective on 1 December, consists of David Poxon and Peter Leach, who have joined the Padstow, Cornwall-based business in newly created roles, as well as Richard Cox and Claire Wilder.

Angus Clark and Andy Vosper remain as chief executive and deputy chief executive respectively but have moved to more strategic roles. They will remain full-time in the business and will still attend executive meetings.

“Andy and myself are still heavily involved in the business but we’re handing the operational control of the business to the new team we’ve put in place,” said Clark.

“We’re stepping back from the day-to-day so we can focus much more on where the business is going in the future what we should be doing.”

Poxon has joined the company from Kawasaki Precision Machinery, where he has held the positions of technical manager and quality manager. As fulfilment leader, he will be responsible for the TJ International’s manufacturing processes.

The company said Poxon’s track record in business performance management within global blue chip manufacturing operations makes him well placed to drive change, sustain improvements, and deliver high quality to achieve customer satisfaction.

Leach has joined the company as business leader and will take responsibility for the sales and customer service areas.

He is said to have a history of successfully driving customer-led business development strategies and has more than 30 years' experience in the industry, having served as commercial director, sales director and, most recently, operations director of Polestar Wheatons.

Cox, who joined TJ International in 2012, will head the executive team as chair and will lead and facilitate the effectiveness of the team. Cox has been responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of company strategy in his role as head of finance.

The fourth member of the new executive team is HR specialist Clare Wilder, who joined the business in June last year.

TJ International, which has 135 staff and a turnover of around £13m, invested in new machinery including a Xerox iGen 150 and Versant 2100 and an Autobond laminator last year.

This followed investments in 2014 in a Canon Océ ColorStream 3900 inkjet printer, a range of Kolbus bindery kit and a Polar N 137 Plus guillotine.

“We’ve done an awful lot in the last 18 months and now we need to settle down and push ahead with the new team we’ve got in place,” said Clark.