Welsh printer PCP buys Chas Hunt for an undisclosed sum

Commercial printer PCP (Pugh's Colourprint) has bought Cardiff-based firm Chas Hunt in an acquisition that was completed last Wednesday (1 October).

The Baglan, Port Talbot-based firm has made the move to increase its presence in Cardiff and across south east Wales.

“Chas Hunt is one of the oldest print companies in Wales. The owner, Rob Wood, who is very well known and respected in the trade, has been looking towards retirement and we got talking to him and agreed to buy the company,” said PCP sales director Dominic Hartley.

“It’s such an established brand that we want to keep that going and we’re keeping on all of the staff. One of our guys is going to be shadowing Rob for the next 12 months, with a view to taking over once he retires.”

PCP, which is part of Crumlin, Newport-based packaging and POS company Lexon Group, has a turnover of around £1.5m and employs 15 staff. With the addition of Chas Hunt it will have 23 staff and a combined turnover of between £2m and £2.5m across the two sites.

PCP’s customers include blue chip clients including The National Assembly for Wales, The Royal Mint, The Welsh National Opera and Wales Millennium Centre and print management companies including Banner and Williams Lea. The firm operates Heidelberg and Ryobi litho presses, Xerox digital printers and a range of finishing equipment.

Established in 1899, Chas Hunt’s customers include councils, NHS trusts and housing associations. Despite running some small-format litho and digital kit, it had been outsourcing the majority of its work over the past few years.

“At PCP we’ve got all of our own laminating, die-cutting, creasing, spot UV-ing and perfect binding in-house. The plan is that we’ll be able to offer all of those services, as well as large-format services, to Chas Hunt’s clients and make cost savings across the group,” said Hartley.