The acquisition is Northside’s first since its own acquisition by London-based Bestport Private Equity in early 2024 accelerated the business’ growth plans.
Completed on Monday (31 March), the deal saw Media Design and Print “fully integrated” within Northside, with machinery and all staff moving across from its 325sqm site to Northside’s central Belfast production facility.
Michael Beckinsale, partner at Media Design and Print, has moved across with the firm’s 10 staff to join Northside; his two partners, Harold Beckinsale Sr and Harold Beckinsale Jr, will retire from the business.
“It’s very exciting, and we’ve been working on the deal for quite a while,” Richard Campbell, Northside managing director, told Printweek.
“We’ve had a very close relationship with Media Design and Print for a long time. We were 10 minutes away from them, and we’ve had a longstanding trade relationship, so this is a win-win for both of us.”
Michael Beckinsale said: “Our acquisition by Northside Graphics is testament to our reputation for excellence in the printing sector, thanks to our outstanding staff and the support of our loyal customer base over the past 38 years.
“We see great synergies between our business and Northside – both in terms of our product offering and our combined expertise in the digital print industry and the online arena, in which Northside operates so widely across the UK and Ireland.”
The acquisition has expanded Northside’s print portfolio, with fine art giclée printing and high-embellishment labels among the firm’s new capabilities; Media Design and Print’s own customer base will likewise benefit from Northside’s wide range of graphics, including UV flatbed printing.
Media Design and Print’s Xerox Iridesse, Versant 180, two fine art Canon ImagePrograf 4000s, and roll-to-roll Roland DG wide-format printers have now come across to Northside’s ownership.
“The acquisition gives us a lot of firepower – and they print all their labels in-house too, so we’ll bring those over too,” Campbell said.
“There will be a little bit of redundancy – we definitely don’t need six guillotines! – so there will be a couple of pieces we’ll be trying to sell over the next few months.”
The acquisition has taken Northside up to 80 staff, and added just over a million pounds to the company’s turnover, which now stands around £11m.
“The key is that we communicate and retain all the customers, so that will be [Beckinsale]’s priority, and the team’s priority,” Campbell said, adding that Media Design and Print would retain its branding – just adding ‘at Northside’ to clarify its acquisition.
“I’m really excited about it all. We’ve been working on this day for months,” Campbell added.
“I’m thrilled about all the new products we’ll be able to offer our customers, both online and offline – there’s lots to talk about.”
