The Solihull-based firm has been sold by its founder and chief executive Colin Davies to a seven-strong MBO team led by managing director Keith Walton and director Matt Bird.

Walton, who became managing director in March, said that the firm would continue its "organic" growth and had no plans to expand through acquisition.

"We'll stay with what we are good at such as finance, retail and transport and grow at a slightly faster pace than we have been."

He said that the "ultimate aim" was to become one of the five biggest print management firms in the UK, although he had no set date to achieve this ambitious target, which would involve quadrupling sales for the firm, currently at number 11 in PrintWeek's print management league table 2005.

"But we plan to expand at a speed which will allow us to look after our existing customers and also to take on business without jeopardising existing clients."

Walton declined to reveal the value of the deal for the 24m-turnover firm, but said: "Colin didn't let us have it for nothing."
Davies, who founded the company in 1968, said: "I could have sold to another company for more but the people who built the company up deserve it."

Davies will stay on part-time as non-executive president for two years, and will continue his activities with the CBI and lecturing on IT.

"All I've done for the last 48 years is work, and it's all I know how to do," he said.

The MBO team included group operations director Hugo McHugh, technical director Simon Dipple, director Eric Brown, group finance director Chris Howard, and human resources director Tina Egginton.

Story by Josh Brooks