Timon Colegrove joined Hunts as a trainee printer. He worked his way down, purchased shares, and ended up owning the business
You wouldn’t expect the CEO of a successful print, marketing, technology and design company to declare himself ‘just a trainee printer’, but there’s a lot about Timon Colegrove and Hunts that is surprising as it is innovative. Rebecca Gibbs got the full story.
‘I’ve always wanted to be part of a team’ – says Timon, who plays in two bands and sits in the same open-plan rows of desks as the rest of his colleagues (‘I don’t like the word “employees”‘). In a Hunts polo shirt, black jeans and leather boots you’d be hard pushed to play “spot the CEO” amongst the hip-looking staffers or those operating the machinery downstairs; “off duty rock star” would be a safer bet. Think Tony Stark (Iron Man) with a dash more humility, but sparkling with the same ebullient, creative energy and a passionate belief that change is possible – and necessary for progress in his industry.
‘I believe it’s the biggest opportunity for innovation in business today: this change of culture,’ Timon insists. ‘Getting into this “real environment”, people are just better – they’re more comfortable; they enjoy it more; they’re happier… and they are more effective.’
Hence the relaxed dress code. ‘Is that how you dress at home?’ he queries, explaining how he deplores suits and ties: they are a veneer, a facade. ‘I want the same person in the workplace – the real them. Not someone coming in playing a role.’
Prospective colleagues ‘have to be what we call “Huntsy,”‘ maintains Timon. ‘It’s our brand, our attitude, our feel – just comfortable.’ It improves performance: ‘because people aren’t putting on an act. They’re not spending energy on putting up a front. If you get a company where people are themselves, people warm to that. And customers warm to that.’
Colleague feedback is also crucial to ensure a happy, efficient company. Hunts has regular “stick your oar in meetings,” providing a “psychologically safe environment” where people can speak candidly. Timon also champions “director’s mistake of the week” where he and his co-directors are held to account. The resulting information can be a valuable wake-up call.
‘We’re really honest about what it’s like to work here,’ says Danny Crane-Brewer, account director and manager of Hunts’ client services. ‘It doesn’t work for everyone. You need to be able to juggle’ – literally, it seems: ‘The stress balls [“one of Timon’s crazy ideas” – Hunts staff throw them around without warning] can make ‘you want to punch someone! But you kind of have to roll with it. The vast majority of the time it’s better that there’s a buzz and an energy about the place.’
Ryan Ruane, digital apprentice, has been at the company five months
‘You walk in the door, and you don’t think it’s a printing company, do you?’ says digital apprentice Ryan Ruane with a wry smile. ‘The best thing about Hunts is the people because they really care about the customer. They’re all really friendly. I think it’s really benefitted me here. Within the first month I could run the Versants.’
Disruption – Evolution
‘When I joined Hunts [35 years ago] there were six of us,’ recalls Timon. ‘We had a couple of desktop printers and we would do letter headings and business stationery in the centre of Oxford. And all the companies that I admired – all the big local colour houses and print companies – they’ve all gone: Burgess, Nuffield, Information Press, Express Litho, Abbey Press… And that’s because they didn’t disrupt; they didn’t change.
‘I don’t call myself a businessman – I’m a trainee printer. Does running a business make me a businessman? I didn’t go to university. I’ve learned on the hoof. I just rely on intuition and empathy, and it sort of works,’ he says, a touch modestly for the owner and CEO of a company with a £6 million turnover. It’s testament to Timon’s ability to make the right decisions and get the best from his colleagues that the business has grown and evolved.
‘Timon is brilliant to work with and quite painful to work with in many ways,’ grins Danny, ‘but he always ensures that the company is quite far ahead of other people in print.’
Danny Crane-Brewer, account director, joined Hunts in 2008
A commercial print house with finishing kit and a mailing house, Hunts has embraced modernity: ‘We’re app developers,’ reveals Timon. ‘Website developers; we’ve embraced it all, and in doing all this, what it does is bring more print. Print is still the main revenue generator for this company. It’s the trigger for the digital experience. We find people are still doing runs of catalogues and brochures, and they still work.’
In terms of digital printing, Hunts has two Xerox Versant 2100s, an HP Latex 365 and an Arizona flatbed. ‘People personalise the artwork online and we print it on the Xeroxes,’ explains Timon. ‘Then it’s dispatched, so it’s quite an automated web-to-print solution.’ The company did a ‘very successful’ campaign for the Landmark Trust, sending out thousands of personalised postcards showing people the locations where they’d stayed.
Reaping rewards
‘We have just secured a substantial contract (for three years),’ says Timon delightedly. ‘The incumbent supplier has more production facilities (less turnover but they’re bigger); has been there six years as the incumbent supplier, and is cheaper. So why did we get that? Because of our energy and creativity. Clients come in here and they feel the energy and that’s testament to what we’re doing; what I believe in – which is about people being people.’
‘It’s about getting in front of people and getting them to come here,’ confirms Danny. ‘There’s a good atmosphere and people pick up on that and it’s fun; and they’ll see that people care.’
Hunts also runs training courses, with the dual purpose of sharing knowledge with customers and getting them into the building. ‘We’re showing that we know our stuff and we’re building rapport; it’s relationships’, explains Timon. All customer ratings to go “live” straight onto the Hunts website – a gesture of confidence in the company’s customer-centric approach.
From its golf course putting green in reception, to its buzzing facilities and the funky looking print café, Hunts exudes a welcoming atmosphere of dynamic creativity and an industrious eye for detail. The company’s ethos of finesse, engagement, enthusiasm, truth and caring rings true and has clearly paid dividends. There’s an important lesson to be learned here: exude goodwill, nurture relationships, take good care of your colleagues – and spend less time on social media, more on playing your guitar. Well it works for Timon…
