Set up by managing director Anne Smith and her husband Eric in 2011, the Cardiff-based outfit has spent the past three months rearranging into three distinct divisions in order to more clearly define its business – general print wing Touch, signage division Tribe and music publishing outfit Ingle Music Distribution, which produces sheet music books.
Changes to the makeup of Touch have been aided by investment from the Robert Owen Community Banking Fund (ROCBF), which specialises in ethical financing, as well the directors.
ROCBF was particularly drawn to Smith’s operation due to her focus on employing members of staff who had previously been out of work.
Smith said: “We are not just a commercial printer. It is important to me that we are taking on people who are trying to get back into work. We are also in the process of taking on a new apprentice and I would like to keep growing so we can continue to bring people on.
“Not only do we employ people but we do our best to work with freelance and independent designers and the like, and I would like to mentor people on how to get into the business and maybe one day set up a training establishment to bring people into the industry."
She added that a recent contract win with Disability Expo in Wales had also given the firm the confidence to invest in the business.
“It has given us the space to do things we had been constrained on previously and we can invest in the business more to keep it growing and improve the quality of our work further.”
As part of its restructure, the company has taken on subsidiary premises for its Tribe signage wing and moved its Roland DG TrueVis 640, as well as a plotter and a mounting table, into the new base. The division is headed up by George Crawford.
Print division Touch will be headed up by Carys Lomax and makes use of machines including a Sharp MX-M1055 digital printer, a Canon ImagePrograf machine and a Konica Minolta AccurioPress C2060.
Ingle Music Distribution is headed up by Eric Smith, and Anne Smith herself oversees the entire group which comprises a total workforce of six people.
