After riding out the last two turbulent years, the AYP team moved from its circa 90sqm facility to a brand new 280sqm site at the start of the year.

“Our original unit became too cramped over time with all the new business and kit we put in,” said AYP founder and owner Martin Hall.

“The new place is fantastic, it’s so light and well-insulated that we hardly need to use the main lights and the heating costs have plummeted. It’s just a really nice atmosphere to work in and we can now operate more efficiently and effectively.”

Situated in the newly opened Newport Innovation Park, a site developed for agri-tech and related businesses, AYP is using the new space to work alongside various food and other brands in developing more sustainable packaging solutions, as well as its commercial print operation.

“The space has been a great success. It’s allowed us to really diversify,” said Hall. “We’ve been approached by a few companies to help them develop new packaging, reducing their use of plastic and using more recyclable materials. We go on a journey with them, ask them the questions we need to know to get the right materials and develop the product they want. It’s about looking at things with a fresh pair of eyes and that’s what we try to look for.

“We’re not a big company so I view our place in this process as a stepping stone for some businesses to develop this idea at a reasonable cost before taking it on to a company that can handle much higher runs. Sustainability and environmental responsibility is the way of the future so this is definitely a growth area for us in the coming months,” he added.

Hall said the new work and the receipt of a small local business grant had prompted the installation of a VeloBlade Volta die-cutter from Vivid Laminating Technologies, to add to the six-staff firm’s growing equipment list.

“We always had to send things out to be die-cut but certainly with the smaller jobs we can do those ourselves now, which saves a lot of time and cost,” he said.

Hall, whose early career was in agriculture, founded AYP in 2006 after his then print employer went out of business. He began by brokering print but was prompted to get into production in 2009 when he noticed the discrepancies between cost and quality being turned out by different customers using the same press.

“I knew that the press could do better quality and that the prices didn’t need to be so high so I started to get my own kit and do the work myself.”

The business runs a Xerox Versant 280, installed in November 2021, and a Xerox 3100 delivered at the start of 2021. Both have replaced earlier presses while foiling and die-cutting have also been added.

“With digital printing, technology moves on quickly and you have to update your presses on quite a frequent basis,” Hall said.

The company’s core work is in commercial print such as flyers and stationery, business cards, brochures, leaflets and posters while Hall’s daughter Sarah Twibey heads AYP’s burgeoning wedding stationery offering, which she launched after joining her father’s business in 2010.

“That side of the business has grown massively thanks to Sarah, we now offer a full range of wedding stationery, and it's opened up new avenues for us such as foiling and specialist finishing. It tempted us into getting our own kit to fulfil the more elaborate finishing work.”

Hall said he had originally outsourced foiling, laminating and spot UV work, but brought that work in-house around four years ago after investing in a Matrix device from Vivid Laminating Technologies.

“It’s enabled us to offer a much wider variety of print solutions but the big thing is that it has enabled us to be more timely with our work and have much better control over the quality.”

Looking ahead, Hall said that as well as sustainable packaging, the business will be focusing on the returning markets since the pandemic such as exhibition work and weddings, as they begin to become busier again.

Hall said turnover was considerably up since restrictions were lifted and he expects to hit £400,000 this year.

Over the years the business has grown to employ Hall’s fiancée, his daughter and son-in-law, a former apprentice turned full-time employee, and most recently a new apprentice. Hall said he anticipates adding another member of staff by the end of 2022 to help with increasing workload as well as succession planning for Hall’s retirement plans that in around 18 months' time will see Twibey continue the family business.

“Our emphasis as a family business is on quality and customer service. We put a lot of effort into it and we enjoy the challenge,” Hall said.