Wallace Print boosts kit and team

Mia and Gary Wallace with Mitzy the company mascot
Mia and Gary Wallace with Mitzy the company mascot

Wallace Print has beefed up capacity with a new Agfa Anapurna inkjet printer, with the business cementing its family roots with a new recruit.

The Rochester-based large-format printing specialist recently boosted its management team with the appointment of Mark Folkard as general manager.

Folkard, whose career included direct mail roles at St Ives Direct and Howard Hunt, said he was relishing learning about a new area of print.

“I have learnt very quickly just how exciting and diverse large format is. Unlike DM, every job is different, some, very complex and most definitely great to see the final product in situ,” he said, while thanking managing director Gary Wallace and the rest of the team for their support.

Wallace’s daughter Mia has also just joined the Kent business in the marketing team, alongside her siblings Leonnie and Kamen. Wallace’s nephew Sam Johnston also works at the firm, which was founded by his late father, Mervyn.

Wallace said he was extremely proud to see Mia as the latest addition to the marketing team, and said the business had “a very efficient loyal team of fantastic employees”.

“Thank you again to our clients for the continued support as we surge forward. The late founder, my father Mervyn Wallace would be very proud,” Wallace said.

He said the family dog Mitzy, pictured, had been “faithfully by my side throughout the Covid nightmare” and was now the firm’s official mascot.

The circa £200,000 investment in an Agfa Anapurna roll-to-roll UV LED printer is in addition to Wallace Print’s existing equipment, which includes SwissQprint, Fujifilm and Summa devices.

Wallace commented: “The speed and extra dimension takes care of print widths up to 3,000mm.

“This is extra to our kit as we invest in cutting edge technology, it allows us to fulfil campaigns and maintain 24 hour printing.”

Gary Wallace features in our special feature about how industry bosses have coped with the Covid-19 pandemic in the new issue of Printweek.

The firm runs 24/7 and had sales of around £4m pre-pandemic, and 40 staff.