Managers beat redundancy by creating new business
A successful new business has emerged from the ruins of a major Flintshire printing firm after it went into receivership.
J&K Engineering has risen from the ashes of Graphoprint, which called in the administrators in June, 2007, a year after a fire devastated its Deeside Industrial Park factory.
When former plant managers Kevin Williams and Jim Glen realised they would soon be out of a job, they decided to offer their services on a freelance basis to the purchasers of Graphoprint's printing presses. A website developed by Deeside IT support firm Samarind helped them to bring in further business, with the result that Kevin and Jim have now become co-directors of J&K Engineering, which has resulted in gainful employment for several former colleagues as well as themselves.
Jim Glen explains: "We knew our expertise as press engineers would be in high demand, so we decided not to let the grass grow under our feet. We handed round business cards at the auction of the factory's contents and got a fantastic response.
"We've now got several projects running with the purchasers, removing the presses and installing them at new locations as far afield as Sydney and Vienna. It's been particularly gratifying to be able to find work for engineers who were also to be made redundant."
J&K Engineering was formed in January and is already expanding into new areas of expertise.
"Our website is a key reason for our continued success because a lot of new customers have found us through it," says Jim. "We didn't want to go for some cheap, off-the-peg website; we wanted something thoroughly professional, a site that would develop as the business developed.
"We chose Samarind to build the site because they'd looked after Graphoprint's systems and we'd always found them extremely helpful. We're really pleased with the website and it's proved excellent value. We've received lots of online inquiries and that's helping us to branch out. For example, we've recently been working with machinery at tissue manufacturers John Dale Ltd, in Flint.
"Although we're experts in off-set web printing presses, J&K Engineering can handle any machinery, including, in this case, a tissue-making machine. The website reflects that breadth of expertise very well."
To learn more about J&K Engineering, visit http://www.jandkengineering.com/ or email jglen@jandkengineering.com. To learn more about Samarind, visit http://www.samarind.co.uk/ or phone Phil Turner on 01244 288281.
Date added: 01/05/2008 10:22:45