Andrew Galloway has worked at the firm for 39 years, and took over as managing director of the business after the sudden death of his father in 1985. He will become deputy chairman, effective 1 January 2020, with Matt Galloway taking over the managing director role.
Andrew Galloway’s mother Rita is chairman of the company.
Galloway said it had been an honour to lead the business for 35 years, but the time was right to step back.
“When dad died in 1985 it threw me into the hot seat at 25. He had so many plans about what he wanted to do in retirement that never came to fruition. As much as I love print there are other things I want to do as well,” he said.
“I feel excited, nervous and proud about what’s ahead. And although I am stepping back I’ve been told by the new MD that I’ve got to go to Drupa!” he quipped.
Galloway thanked employees, customers and suppliers for their support during his tenure.
The Poynton-based business employs 38 staff and has sales of £3.5m. It offers a full service from pre-press to digital, wide-format and litho printing as well as web-to-print, and has a broad spread of local and national customers.
Earlier this year the company invested in a five-colour Speedmaster CX 102 with coater as part of a major investment in automation and efficiency, spearheaded by Matt Galloway.
“MIS, workflow and web-to-print software has vastly reduced the number of touchpoints involved in getting a job to press. I’m very proud of what Matt has achieved,” Galloway added.
Matt Galloway joined the business in 2012 working in sales and business development, and became a director in January 2017.
He said: “I’m extremely excited about the challenge ahead. At Galloways, we’ve invested in automation tools and the latest technology from Heidelberg, including the CX102. As a result, we’ve not only speeded up our end to end service, we’ve also increased our overall capacity – which means our customers get an even better service and a faster turnaround.”
The company was established by John Galloway in 1870 and subsequently passed down to his nephew, and then father to son. It will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year.
It finished its financial year yesterday (30 September), and Andrew Galloway said he was bowing out on a good set of figures.
He said that the firm’s commitment to outstanding customer service had remained a constant as he witnessed more than three decades of substantial technological change in the industry, with the introduction of the Apple Macintosh in the 1980s one of the most memorable periods.
“I remember researching Macs and going to a printers in Yorkshire with my repro guy. The printer said ‘all I can tell you about these is they breed like rabbits’. And the Macs had to have big metal cages around them because of all the thefts at the time.”
Galloway’s plans for retirement include “learning to cook and improving my golf so the ball goes in the direction I’m aiming at”.
