Member Article

£1million investment in digital facility marks 25 years at Macclesfield manufacturing firm

Plastic Card Services (PCS), one of the UKs leading manufacturers of plastic cards and associated services, celebrated 25 years in business this week by announcing the completion of a £1 million investment in a new digital production facility sited on its existing manufacturing campus within Tytherington Business Village.

Macclesfield MP, David Rutley, was invited to officially ‘cut the ribbon’ on the new digital unit, with the event also being combined with a celebratory silver anniversary BBQ for staff.

Commenting on the importance of ambitious businesses to the local economy he said: “It was an honour to visit PCS to join the company’s 25th anniversary celebrations and learn about all that the team has achieved. They are a great example of how a company can grow UK-wide, and indeed internationally, securing opportunities for the futures of local people. It is good to see how they have worked with their landlords, Orbit Developments, to expand their operations, yet stay in the Macclesfield area.”

PCS, which now employs 50 people, originally moved to Riverside within Orbit Developments’ portfolio, relocated to Bank House in 1998, before finding their ideal space at Tytherington Business Village in 2000.

Benn Dickinson from Orbit Developments commented: “PCS were a customer of ours long before they relocated to Tytherington Business Village, and it has been a pleasure to be part of their success story.”

PCS Managing Director Adam Unsworth said, “At PCS we always strive to be at the forefront of the plastic card market, we knew the demand for shorter-run work was there from our existing customers and the investment in a digital facility was a natural next step for the firm. In addition to selecting the very best in card production and finishing equipment, we ensured that each piece was compatible with our existing manufacturing lines, allowing us to double our overall output to 160 million cards per year, acting as a real step change for the business.”

To complement and enhance its digital offering, PCS has also created a web-to-print platform which allows customers to price, design and upload artwork as well as buy cards online and receive them in just a few days.

PCS provides cards in various formats including standard credit card style, card and integrated fob, 3 up fobs, hotel key cards, smart cards and RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) shielding cards, as well as associated card personalisation, artwork, data processing, mailing and fulfilment.

On wider changes at Tytherington Business Village, Benn Dickinson commented: “Over the past 12 months, we have invested a lot in making Tytherington Business Village an enjoyable place for all of our customers and their employees to be. We’ve introduced monthly food trucks, fitness classes and customer feedback sessions to bring a vibrancy to the park. It is uniquely placed to satisfy most workspace requirements – office, HQ or warehousing – and we look forward to welcoming more businesses like PCS to Tytherington in the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Souter .