Member Article

North East print firm land investment

Long-established North East printing firm, MTPrint have kicked-started growth plans with £175,000 of new investment.

In order to put their future development plans into action, the Darlington-based firm turned to NEL Fund Managers for investment from the Finance For Business North East Growth Fund.

The company provides a range of creative design and print services, from corporate identity development and website design, through to direct mail, point of sale material and press advertisements.

This money will be used to expand the firm’s online presence, including the introduction of a web-to-print service that could be used by customers in any location and appropriate equipment investments.

Phil Harburn, joint director, commented: “Throughout its history, MTPrint has always made strategic investments in the right kind of new products, services and equipment, and at such a milestone moment for us, it makes perfect commercial sense to be doing so again.

“Enhancing the volume and breadth of work we do online is a very attractive growth option for us, especially as it will enable us to expand the amount of business we bring in from outside the region.

“We have a very strong in-house design team and we believe there are many opportunities for us to expand the range and volume of work they do for both existing and new clients.

“NEL provided a local source of investment with a strong reputation, and we had a very positive experience working through the application process with the team.”

The company was advised by the award-winning corporate finance team at Clive Owen & Co LLP, the company’s long standing accountants who are based in Darlington, Durham and York.

Angus Allan, corporate finance partner, said: “This is an exciting and hugely positive next step for MTPrint, which leaves the company perfectly placed for many more years of success.

“It was a pleasure to work so closely with the team to secure this investment.”

Simon Johnson, senior investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, added: “MTPrint has built a forward-looking business on very firm foundations, and the new management team now has everything in place it needs to keep the company moving forwards.”

At the start of the year, MTPrint came under new management, with the appointment of directors Phil Evans and Phil Harburn, alongside chairman Mike Challands on the board, following the retirement of long-serving director Stuart Shutt.
The company was established in 1924 and currently employs 16 people, dealing with contracts across a number of high-profile clients including The Bannatyne Group, the Scottish Parliament and North Yorkshire Police.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .