Founded in 1926, the firm specialises in bespoke and high-quality stationery, printed with Waite and Saville die-stamping machines, and serves a high-profile client base across the UK.
In recent years, Perrott has been working the firm by himself, with the aid of his graphic designer daughter, working on semi-retired hours of two days a week, and turning over £25,600 in 2023/24 with a £12,000 profit.
The company has three Waite & Saville machines, one hand-fed and two auto-fed, a two-colour AB Dick 9810 offset press with T51 swing-away head, a single-colour AB Dick 375 with T51 head, a Babs guillotine, a Therm-O-Type card slitter, and Wahli free-standing envelope feeder.
“I may be retiring, but I want to get word out there and keep the [die-stamping] trade going,” Perrott explained.
He told Printweek that he had joined the firm in 1971, and worked for many years as a successful team with his father – but now, by himself, and getting closer to full retirement age, and with his daughter having had a baby, it was time to pass on the company to fresh hands.
“Beforehand, we would take every [job] on – but nowadays I just take on the work I need,” he explained.
“You can’t beat the feel of die-stamping. You get such fine detail that you simply can’t get with letterpress or litho. If you get a four-colour job, like a crest, you can’t match it. It’s all engraved in another dimension, and that’s why it’s so expensive: you have to have such skill to produce this type of material,” he said.
Perrott, luckily, has a good working relationship with an engraver, and many of the UK’s other die-stamping printers.
After retirement from the firm, he hopes to spend more time helping others make the most of their equipment.
“I just love the work: every job is different, and you learn with each one. Even after 50 years, you’re still learning,” he said.
“So I do feel a bit sad – but it’s tough getting up at five o’clock to commute in. [Once I’ve retired] I’ll do talks – I’ve been to a few universities – and show young designers what is out there. If you don’t tell them, they simply won’t know that this kind of print exists.”
Perrott said once he had showed graphic designer peers of his daughter, up from university, how the die-stamping machinery worked, and what it could produce.
“Their jaws fell to their chins – they just couldn’t believe there was still machinery like it,” he added.
“So if anyone needs any help with their machinery, I’ll try and help them: I’d like to keep my fingers in the trade, but not have to worry about where my next job is coming from – or who I have to chase for money afterward.”
