A CPOS (Company Purchase of Own Shares) – effectively resulting in an MBO – has been completed at the Kent-headquartered business, which is now owned by group managing director Ian Conetta together with Delga Press sales director Stuart McLellan, Delga Press production director Sam Grist and Paul Ridgewell, sales director at CSP.
Conetta is the majority shareholder.
While group companies Delga Press, Delga Labels, CSP, Scarbutts Printers and TT Litho continue to trade under their existing identities, the group company has been renamed Meliora Group, chosen because of the Latin meaning for “the pursuit of the better”.
Conetta said the move had been carefully planned for some time, with former owners Clive Gregory and Peter Samuels retiring.
The management team involved in the buyout have been running the group companies for the past four-or-five years, “all of whom bring a different strength to the team, all sharing the same vision for our business,” Conetta said.
Regarding the fresh name and brand for the group (pictured below), he said the new strapline fitted in with the overarching ethos of the business.
“When we looked at it from a simplistic strategy perspective, what did we want to do in 12 months’ time? We want to be better than we are now, and Meliora’s meaning ‘the pursuit of the better’ really hits the spot with what we want to achieve. Year-on-year we want to be better,” he explained.
“We’ve got a very well thought through forecast for the next three years and we’re projecting growth. Our labels business is maturing, while CSP is a mature business in its field but still with enormous potential to grow geographically.”
The group has sales of £13m and employs 125 across two sites currently.
“We have some new staff joining in the next few months that will aid our growth plans, and some new equipment coming in the next few weeks that will add efficiencies,” he added.
The Meliora Group offers a wide range of services including design, packaging and laser cutting, labels, litho and digital printing, and fulfilment.
The long-established CSP busines specialises in printing and print management for the public sector, education and private medical sectors, while the new Delga Labels wing was set up last year.
Delga Press is in its 61st year of business.
