Donna Young set up her new company in February this year at the North East Business and Innovation Centre in Sunderland, the same location where she and late husband Martyn Young established First2Print in 2007.
Following First2Print's acquisition by Precision Print in 2014, the Youngs remained with the company, which was rebranded Precision North, until Martyn was killed in an incident involving a forklift truck at the site on Sunderland Enterprise Park in February 2017. In the wake of her husband’s death, Donna stepped away from First2Print to focus on caring for the couple’s son Daniel.
Print My Way has now been established as a print manager serving a mixture of corporate and small businesses from a network of print service providers comprising connections made by Donna Young across her previous time in the sector.
She said: “When you lose someone who has played a massive part in your life, it shows you which people are really there for you and the support I have received since Martyn passed away has been amazing.
“I have sold all my shares now in First2Print and I wish everyone there well, they still have a fantastic team. When Martyn and I started out, we strove to help people and give out advice where we could and that is what I want to do again now by helping new businesses just starting up, as well as those within the trade.
“I have been out of the game for a couple of years and everyone was asking me when I would be coming back, so it is brilliant to now have something to sink my teeth into. I have put all my effort into Print My Way and the support so far has been amazing.”
The company so far comprises an all-female team of three staff, with Young expressing her ambition to “make an impact in a male-dominated industry”.
With Print My Way focusing on print management for now, Young said she had plans for the firm to take on its own in-house wide-format kit in the future and was keen to explore printed fabrics and wallpapers. Investments into in-house technology are earmarked to take place within a year.
The ‘My’ in the company’s name is purposefully a nod to Martyn Young’s initials, and Young said her late husband’s influence would still play a “big part” in her business practices.
