Jeremy (Jes) Crossley, who started in the newly created role on 1 December, has returned to print finishing after a 20-year stint with Heidelberg UK as a post-press specialist and sales representative.
That position ended in July following a restructure at the manufacturer and soon after ACA contacted Crossley to see if he would be interested in the new role.
“In my role with Heidelberg I have worked with print and packaging companies in the North of England and Scotland. I had called on ACA regularly over the last 20 years and was impressed when the £6.5m management buyout took place in 2016,” said Crossley.
“It was clear that this company wanted to push forward, that it was eager to double its turnover to £8m and that it was willing to invest in the equipment and people to make that happen.”
Crossley spent the first 22 years of his career in print finishing across a wide range of equipment and with departmental management roles. In his new role he will be home-based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
He told Printweek that while the business has a solid existing customer base in Scotland and the North East of England in particular, his role will be to open doors for the business further into England.
“While I will be involved with customers in Scotland, I think the role is to develop the name and the customer base [more widely]”.
Dara Changizi, director at Glasgow-based ACA, said: “I knew Jes when he was at Heidelberg and went to some open houses.
“I could see that print and packaging firms gravitated to him and that they (and I) would listen to him because he didn’t waste your time but added to your knowledge. He will be respected by our customers because of that approach.”
ACA offers around 70 different finishing processes. The company has BRC double-A packaging certification and ISO 9001 quality accreditation, and its services include die-cutting, foiling, gluing, varnishing, laminating, folding, stitching and binding as well as supplying blocking dies and laser formes.
Over the last 12 months the business has invested in a raft of new kit including an Autobond Mini 105 with double heated roller for lamination, a B&H foil cutter 1450, a UPG D1200 double-station carton erecting forming machine, and a Sakurai MS102A UV varnishing machine plus automated pre-press, wash up and coating.
For its formes operation it has recently taken on a Lasercomb CLS 2115 laser cutter and a Lasercomb ProPertinax CMC matrix/counter maker.
Pre-pandemic ACA had a turnover of £4.6m. It has worked throughout the Covid-19 crisis and while there has been some downturn in volume from commercial print customers, its packaging side has stayed strong.
The business operates from a 3,716sqm factory with a 465sqm sterile unit for food packaging work.
