The firm, which began life in 1997 as Fairprint Distribution, turns 25 today (14 January).
In its early days it focused on small-format printing and would typically handle fewer than 30 jobs a day.
“There was once a time when 500 business cards were considered a bargain at £99!” Tradeprint noted in its celebratory announcement.
The Dundee company subsequently adopted the Tradeprint name, and won Printweek’s Company of the Year Award in 2014.
It was acquired ecommerce giant Cimpress the following year and is now part of the $2.59bn (£1.89bn) turnover group’s Upload and Print business.
Charlene Joss, who had been finance director at the firm, became managing director in November 2018, making Tradeprint one of the industry’s select band of female-led businesses.
Director of customer success Anthony Rowell has boosted the firm’s environmental policies and sustainability stance, and is the current chair of the BPIF Environmental Forum.
Joss told Printweek: “Today is our 25th birthday and I could not be prouder of our journey. We’ve been working hard on our year-long plans to celebrate this monumental achievement with our customers, our community and our loyal employees.”
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The Tradeprint team has created ’25 Pledges to Pay it Forward’ with initiatives that will run throughout the rest of the year, including charitable activities and challenges such as mentoring and mountain (or big hill) climbing.
The firm has also pledged to make mental wellbeing a priority and will include it in staff appraisals.
“You’ll hear us referring to this monumental milestone as our 25th year so we intend to string out the celebrations all year long which means extra special treats all year round for our customers through promotions and incentives, our community be it through donations, voluntary work or mentorship opportunities and of course our staff through events and development opportunities,” Joss explained.
Tradeprint also plans to double the current factory floor space to make room for a raft of new machinery, with details to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Currently the factory is 1,765sqm with a separate office building, while the proposed extension will expand the facility to 3,716sqm.
“I’m certain our 25th year will be our best year ever with the significant expansion plans and rebrand we have on the horizon. Like everyone, it’s been a tough couple of years but we have used the time wisely to reassess, regroup, and map out the plans for our future and with the incredibly talented team of people we have at Tradeprint I have no doubt we will achieve our goals as a team,” she added.
“I’m so grateful for the support and well wishes we have received in our happy birthday video and the continuous support and friendship we have from our incredible customers, suppliers and competitors and we look forward to continuing to nurture these relations. Here’s to the next 25 years!”
Tradeprint had sales of £15.1m pre-pandemic.
