Initially tested in early 2017 after signing up for BPIF platinum membership, the Manchester-based print and communications firm scored an unsatisfactory 30%. A member of staff was then especially appointed to make the required improvements to the facility.
Upon returning this month, the BPIF inspector scored DCB’s warehouse highly across all nine categories – with five receiving the maximum possible score – and called the warehouse “the safest he had ever seen”, according to managing director Victoria Hart.
She said: “In the end it was largely the simple improvements that helped, such as installing a speed limit sign in our car park or making sure staff wear high-vis jackets in the factory. We made a concentrated effort to improve things and that has obviously paid off.
“We knew we had made significant progress ahead of the inspection, but we never predicted we would do this well. I am extremely proud of and impressed with my team.”
The group came into being in 2008 when owner David Charles Beale bought print management company Print Search. The acquisitions of marketing firm Caspa and print production firm Aspen have enabled the group to offer all-round communication services within a few years of growth, now turning over £6.5m.
DCB will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October this year, with Hart planning a party for all 48 staff, their families, and the major clients and partners of the group.
Hart is also marking 10 years at DCB, having joined around the time of the group’s formation as an account manager. She worked her way up to the position of managing director, to which she was appointed two years ago at the age of 37.
“We are very much a family company, all of our staff members are very close,” she said. “It hasn’t all been plain sailing to get to this stage but we are now proud to be a one-stop shop for our clients – that is what we aimed to do and we can do it.
“Being a woman in management is obviously a rare thing for the print industry, and I do notice that when I go to BPIF board meetings and to industry events. But I feel like I have earned my place, I have always strived to build up my knowledge and skills so have never felt disadvantaged in my work.”
DCB’s printing portfolio includes two Heidelberg Speedmaster 52s in litho, and a variety of digital and large-format presses from Konica Minolta, HP, Canon and Graphtech, as well as various pre- and post-press equipment. The firm ran a company survey in December to measure staff satisfaction, returning 97% “extremely positive” responses.
