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Gemini invests and appoints Steve Cropper as MD

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Commercial printing company The Gemini Group is undergoing a number of significant changes, following the death of its founder and chairman, Nigel Holmes.

A number of personnel changes have already been made and the company is set to begin an £800,000 spend on finishing equipment.

The company has also shut down its loss-making Heathfield subsidiary Quentin Press, at the cost of 30 jobs.

Holmes, who founded the business more than 40 years ago, passed away on 1 July.

The company has made two senior appointments: a new chairman, Derek Weir, who worked most recently for Barclays Corporate in Scotland and Ireland, and Steve Cropper, who was previously managing director of Gemini Press, has been named as managing director of the entire group.

Non-executive director John Boyle, a major shareholder, is also to take a more active role in the running of the company.

Cropper said: "John will be advising us when he is needed. We have been left to run the group – he won’t micro-manage, but the extra business acumen he brings with him will help the directors to take over."

In the next three months Gemini plans to install a stitching line and two folding lines; with the company "very close" to deciding which manufacturers it will use.

The new machinery will be installed at the £16m-turnover company’s flagship Shoreham facility, as well as at a new plant in Brighton.

After that investment is expected to come thick and fast. Cropper added: "Gemini Group has suffered in recent years because we have not invested. We have had a bottleneck in the finishing department and that needs to be cleared.

"As soon as those machines have been installed we will look at other parts of the group, investment will filter down."

The new leadership has also shut subsidiary Quentin Press, a commercial printer that handled predominantly journals and magazines. It was closed last Monday (5 September). According to Cropper the company has lost money in each of the last three years, despite continued investment.

"It was going to take a massive investment to turn it around," he said. "We could not carry on funding it without putting the rest of the group at risk."

GEMINI GROUP
• Gemini Press, Shoreham
• Andus Print, Brighton
• Ambassador Litho, Bristol
• Beard Digital, Shoreham
• Managed Marketing, Bristol
• Visual Identity, Shoreham
Business