The TV appearance followed on from the firm’s involvement with a BBC Radio 5 Live special broadcast about the referendum result the previous week.
On Monday (25 July), PCS managing director Rob Nicholls was interviewed by BBC Breakfast correspondent Colletta Smith live on air to discuss the impact of Brexit.
“We’d come close to doing a few things in the past so we were on the BBC’s radar. Then we did the radio show and that went very well, hence the TV appearance,” Nicholls explained.
“I like to feel we represent the print industry well. Our company is a mixture of printing and manufacturing so we cover both and we’re very proud to be a printer.”
Nicholls, who voted to leave the EU, said the firm had insured itself against higher prices of imported materials due to the falling pound by buying six months’ worth of stock in advance of the referendum.
And despite the current uncertainties about how the UK will handle Brexit, Nicholls said he was positive about the future.
“Opportunities are opening up and it’s up to companies to make hay with those opportunities and chase after them,” he said.
Macclesfield-based PCS employs 54 staff and has sales of just under £6m. It produces a wide range of plastic cards including loyalty cards, gift cards and hotel key cards.
Exports, mainly to Denmark and Australia, currently account for circa 12%-15% of sales and the firm aims to expand that side of its business. "We are investing in marketing and sales and are expecting those areas to grow," Nicholls said.
PCS runs a range of specialist production equipment including a five-colour KBA Genius 52 UV waterless offset press, and has a personalisation bureau kitted out with Atlantic Zeiser inkjet overprinting, a Canon Océ Varioprint 2110 and Canon imagePress 1135.
Nicholls said that customer sentiment had dropped immediately after the shock Brexit result, but had subsequently bounced back.
“Straight after the vote we had a dip in enquiries for about four days, there was a void. But after that it came back and each week is getting better and better since Brexit, and this week has been astonishing.”
BBC Breakfast has around 7 million viewers and the firm’s appearance has also provided a boost to company morale. “So many of our employees appeared on TV during the broadcast, all of a sudden families and friends were texting and there was a social media firestorm with their friends. It’s created a positive vibe and buzz and we’re all going out on Friday to celebrate,” Nicholls added.
