Why Being Polestar’s chief financial officer has proved too much for some. Not Johnston, who seems to relish the challenges of running the numbers at the £239m group. “He’s very focused and his tenacity is unbelievable,” says a colleague, who described Johnston as a perfect foil to chief executive Barry Hibbert. With the £50m investment in web offset at Sheffield Johnston has his work cut out on the cashflow front. And he must surely have a spreadsheet for all the outwork involved as a result of the influx of Time Inc (formerly IPC Media) work that coincided with the restructuring of its web offset facilities.
Why There aren’t too many Marxist capitalists in print, in fact, as far as we know there’s only one. But having built the business to £28m, he’s now looking to take a bit of a backseat at Webmart and concentrate on his next business: Printelligence. As a passionate advocate of staff engagement, incentivising his team is incredibly important to Biltcliffe. However, a scheme in which staff had a chance to win £1,000 if the business hit its monthly target backfired, when the inaugural round was won by none other than the very embarrassed chief executive himself. We’re reliably informed that he donated his prize to charity.
Why Managing director Moore has to be a master of many crafts, as he oversees a multinational cross-media company that manages not just print but also every other aspect you may need from a marketing campaign. Clients have included BP and Bic and this year it added Sky to the roster, being hired to produce all the media giant’s print and digital post-production work. This means Schawk will have responsibility for the versioning and adaptation of Sky campaigns. Colleagues say Moore leads from the front with energy, unsurprising for a man that likes to keep fit and runs half marathons.
Why As TalkTalk’s print and production manager Zakka is responsible for overseeing the group’s reportedly eight-figure print spend - not that this is likely faze someone who has notched up more than 25 years print buying experience. She is described as a “mother hen character” who’s as passionate about print as she is about supporting her team and her suppliers. She also has a wicked sense of humour, according to one colleague. Respected by suppliers, she is described as a “print legend” by more than one of her nominators in the public vote, with another simply saying “Emma is just fab”.
Why Rohart is apparently an extremely focused, dedicated leader, and an incredible motivator. “He’s very charismatic,” says one colleague. “He’s great at building the right structure for teams, particularly across countries.”
Why Howard Hunt has won a number of notable new clients this year, including Cancer Research UK, Sky and Marks & Spencer, and colleagues place much of the credit at Pigott’s door. He became group chief executive in 2008 and focused on making the group a diverse marketing services provider. That has brought many rewards. A colleague says he remains a great boss who is “unshakeably positive, constantly inspiring those around him”. Away from print, he is a long-suffering Spurs fan and enjoys fast cars and playing golf, but mostly he spends time with his two daughters.
Why After a big spend in 2012 on mailing capacity and new Xerox and Heidelberg machines, it all may have seemed a little quiet at the London-based transactional and DM print group but rest assured this company remains a hive of activity. In the past 12 months, it has added new clients in the finance, insurance amd utilities sectors, expanded multichannel services and made “significant advancements” in its operations with continued investment in its facilities. A source says that Aintaoui continues to lead these changes from the front, remaining a “creative and inspirational” force within the company.
Why Cruise is a stalwart of the Power 100, in the same vein that his employer is a regular fixture on the list of big print spenders. Admittedly the halcyon days of £20m-plus spends may be gone, but with a circa £15m budget for 2014, it’s safe to say that BSkyB’s head of print management will be on a fair few printers’ Christmas cards list once again. According to one source, Cruise has recently taken up Wing Chun, a close-combat martial art that uses both “striking and grappling” – which the source said he found “very relaxing”, although it didn’t save him from being attacked by a swarm of wasps on a recent holiday.
Why The head of John Brown Media’s production department has had a relatively quiet 12 months after a hectic 2013 that saw him rack up the air miles as the company launched a new Middle East office in Dubai. Suppliers appreciate the respectful manner in which Jolly does business, with one former colleague describing him as “passionate and driven – he has a love of print”. Anyone who questions the validity of this testimony should read his insightful blog post on luxury papers on the John Brown website to see how knowledgeable, passionate and, some might argue, geeky Jolly is about print.
Why After last month’s profits warning and subsequent share price fall, the security printer’s new chief executive is probably wondering why he left the comparatively stable world of cyber security to join De La Rue this month.
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