Lee Reeves and James Howe co-founded Establish-id in June.

Reeves spent more than seven years as general manager at CPI Colour, and prior to that was the managing director of The Colourhouse for 20 years.

Howe headed up the CPI Connect creative production agency business for nearly six years and before that was London sales manager for Taylor Bloxham Group. 

Venn, which acquired JDP in March and has since completely revamped the way the business operates, said the fresh partnership was in line with its plans to gain a presence in the London market, with Reeves and Howe bringing extensive experience of corporate print to the relationship. 

Establish-id will have access to Venn’s bespoke Ventura technology platform as part of the arrangement. 

Reeves said that from the moment he met Venn co-founders Andy Rae and Anthony Thirlby to talk about the potential synergies “I knew I was working with the right partners on every level”.

“We have high aspirations for the business and hope to secure a manufacturing site in the London area over the coming weeks to further support our customers’ requirements,” he said. 

The business has already secured £800,000 worth of work. 

Thirlby said that Venn’s “hub and spoke” manufacturing plan would soon involve multiple sites. 

“It will be plural very quickly, and then our third target is in the London market,” he said. 

“JDP has quadrupled in size in five months. The market is definitely coming back and our strategy of having a hybrid model is bearing fruit. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited by the opportunities ahead, and technology is going to drive things.”

Establish-id aims to offer a full service in taking brands to market including print and direct mail campaigns, creative design, exhibition stand design, build and install, bespoke packaging, retail display, branded merchandise, storage, fulfilment and logistics. 

Thirlby said Venn also has a network in place for outsourcing products it cannot currently produce in-house.