Rae and business partner Anthony Thirlby set up buy-and-build venture Venn Holdings nearly two-and-a-half years ago, when they acquired John Dollin Printing in Hampshire, subsequently rebranded as JDP.
The duo had known each other for years and their varied industry careers crossed over when they both worked at Heidelberg.
Printweek understands that Rae left the firm earlier in the summer.
“Working on this side of the trade wasn’t what Andy wanted to do and he has taken early retirement,” Thirlby told Printweek.
Thirlby and his wife Christina, together with Rae and his wife Claire, are the current co-shareholders in Venn.
“That’s all amicable and in the process of being sorted out right now. I will purchase that [shareholding] from him,” Thirlby added.
He said that 32-staff Venn – which also acquired Culverlands Press in 2021 – was now on course for sales of £10m.
“The business is very much on track. Ironically sales is not my problem at the moment, recruitment is.
“Unfortunately, I was also in the process of looking at other acquisitions but that has had to go on the back burner.”
Thirlby’s plans include recruiting additional senior people to help him run the operation, as well as more shopfloor staff.
“We should be running 24 hours but we can currently only facilitate two shifts. But I suppose that’s a nice problem to have.”
Venn initially focused on B2 litho printing at JDP and sold the firm’s B1 press, but went back to B1 earlier this year to increase capacity, with a new push-to-stop 18,000sph Heidelberg Speedmaster XL106 four-colour plus coater.
The deal was set up under Heidelberg’s Subscription Smart offering covering software, plates, consumables and service contract on the new XL106 for the next five years.
Posting on LinkedIn earlier this month, Thirlby said: “Extremely proud of the amazing team at Venn. The XL106 already at world leading levels on OEE and net productivity… 80% and 14k bang on track within 12 weeks. Not bad from a little corner of Hampshire, UK!”
JDP's mix of litho and digital printing capability also includes a HP Indigo 100K B2 digital press.
Printweek could not reach Rae for comment at the time of writing.
