Husband and wife entrepreneurial team Richard and Julie Bennett sold their National League side to Ranjan Varghese in July and inked a deal to purchase NPS from its owners, Adam and Ruth Brenner, on 9 August.
Richard Bennett will take over as managing director, with Julie positioned as finance director – they will head up a team of 12 staff that will remain with the company. The exiting Brenners are set to move to the south of England to be closer to family. However, Adam will continue to work for NPS in order to expand the firm’s presence around London and the South East.
“We wanted to make sure any new owners would build a positive relationship with our staff as they have been with us for a long time, and to keep the company stable for the future,” said Adam Brenner.
“Ideally we didn’t want to sell to another print business and Richard and Julie are a really nice couple who we know will look after NPS for the long term which makes them ideal buyers.
“NPS won’t go through any major changes – it is still the same staff and I am still involved and under Richard and Julie’s guidance it is now set to build on our success with further expansion.”
The Brenners had NPS on the market for around nine months before they were introduced in April to the Bennetts – who also founded analytical service provider Derwentside Environmental Testing Services (DETS). The acquisition process took around four months to complete, but Adam Brenner said the two parties’ goals “dovetailed nicely”.
Accountancy firm RMT and Mincoffs Solicitors advised the Brenners on the deal, while the Bennetts worked with the Clive Owen legal firm and Peter Milican Law.
NPS covers a full range of printing services, including litho, digital, exhibition, display and direct mail, as well as web design and promotional items.
Its flagship brand management software Brand Sentinel – developed to give multi-site operations brand control on printer collaterals – will be a key focus of the Bennett’s expansion plans going forward, as well as a drive to hire more staff.
Adam Bennett will provide a “physical presence” for NPS in the south of England, where a number of existing NPS clients have their headquarters, while his official title at the company will be decided once he and Ruth have fully relocated.
Newcastle Print Solutions evolved out of a Prontaprint franchise the Brenners bought in 1997 and has been operated as an independent business on 465sqm premises in the Whitehouse industrial estate since 2011, serving clients across a number of sectors including healthcare, digital marketing and archiving.
