The Thurmaston-based outfit, which recently invested £5m in a raft of new kit, including the world’s first dual digital packaging line and a KBA Rapida 106, won the Company of the Year gong at the annual awards, having been runner-up last year to another packaging company, Clifton Packaging.
The awards took place last Thursday (27 April) at the Leicester Arena and were attended by 750 people.
Qualvis managing director Jason Short said: “I think last year we put ourselves forward for about four awards and didn’t win any. We were thinking this year we might end up doing the same sort of thing and becoming the bridesmaid and not the bride but we have started this year off with our first award so we’re very excited.
“Five years ago we decided we were going to change the direction of the company and this would be our five-year plan and within five years we would achieve the target in sales, markets and investment programme; all of which we have hit.”
Founded more than 30 years ago, Qualvis’ five-year plan initiated in 2011 aimed for an approximate £5m turnover boost during the period. It has seen turnover grow from £8m to around £12.7m in the five years and is looking now to add to its 110-strong team, with the addition of 10 new staff this year.
Qualvis also recently teamed up with Border Biscuits to produce personalised packs of biscuits to be delivered to singer Ed Sheeran.
On the occasion of Border’s Dark Chocolate Ginger biscuits’ 30th anniversary, the 50 packs, 10 of which were delivered to Sheeran, were printed using Qualvis’ Xerox iGen 5 to match Sheeran’s hair colour and delivered by Border’s mascot Ginger George to his dressing room at the SSE Hydro, Glasgow last month.
Qualvis creative design director Rich Pacey said: “The marketing capability of digital is fantastic and allows us to turn a project around so quickly.
“We are a busy studio and have lots of new product development projects on the go and to turn the artwork around from the initial sketch and first PDF to fully finished in a few days I think for a lot of design agencies that would be a tall order.”
Pacey added that Qualvis has a number of other Border jobs in the pipeline and is “in talks with various customers on how they can incorporate personalisation or versioning”.
Qualvis developed a full colour simulation of gold ink on the iGen 5 for the job and printed some additional promotional packs with gold foiling, with the foiling being outsourced.
