Thrown a surprise party by colleagues at a spa hotel near the Welsh firm, Jones and past and present staff and family celebrated the anniversary in late September.
“The celebrations went very well, it was a great night,” Jones told Printweek.
“The Quay hotel [Degawny] is very nice, set up on the Conwy estuary, and we actually print for the hotel, so the manager was looking after us.”
Joining Powlsons as a 17-year-old indentured apprentice at the height of 1974’s three-day-week, Jones left behind his paper round and trained as a typographer.
Due to a clerical error, his invitation to interview at the firm had not been posted – but the founder and then owner, John Cordery, stopped at his parents’ house to invite him in personally.
Jones started work on a “dirty, dark letterpress machine”, but joined just in time to see the firm move into litho production with a new Heidelberg Kord offset press.
Taking further instruction at Chester School of Art to get his City & Guilds print qualification, and then Liverpool University, Jones worked his way up in the company; at the same time, the firm moved up through litho to early digital print with Linotype – the first company in North Wales to see it – and in 2000 took over the company’s management at the invitation of the Cordery family.
“There’s been so many changes over that time, like the Apple Mac that took over from Linotype; then desktop publishing completely changing the industry,” Jones recalled.
“It was so union-based in those days, and I remember, too, days when we’d have to go on strike because Fleet Street had a strike: we all had to support the NGA and come out on strike, which was quite bizarre, and probably not very effective given we were in North Wales!”
Even after 50 years in the firm, and 24 at the helm, Jones has no plans to go anywhere, as a fit, marathon-running 67-year-old.
“I’m an active person, and I enjoy my job and my customers, and I’ve got a great team,” he said.
The company just installed two brand-new machines in July, an HP Latex 630W wide-format printer and Konica Minolta AccurioPress C7090 colour toner press.
“We decided we’d invest in machinery that would be more economic and environmentally-friendly to run,” Jones said.
“The consumables they use are better for the environment, and with an ever-changing world, we felt it was a positive move to reduce our carbon footprint and move with the times.
“It’s amazing where 50 years have gone, and how the world has changed when you look back.
“I’m very proud to be part of an industry that has completely reshaped itself from letterpress to digital, and it’s been a great journey.”
