Mark Handford shakes newly appointed Anthony Thirlby by the hand
Anthony Thirlby, principal of AHT Consultancy has joined the main Pureprint Group board of directors as chief operating officer.
During his time as managing director of ESP Colour Hub in Swindon, he led a nine-year transformation of ESP’s technical processes that helped double sales. He has become a recognised worldwide authority on applying science and automation to the process of print manufacturing, working on projects across the UK, USA, Scandinavia and Australia this year.
Earlier this year Pureprint commissioned AHT Consultancy to review its MIS and overall group business systems which has led to a ground breaking, cross platform installation of the Tharstern Primo MIS system with collaboration from Heidelberg, HP and Kodak.
Mark Handford, chief executive, said, ‘Anthony and I have known each other for years so when he decided to set up his consultancy business our MIS transformation project seemed to be the ideal opportunity to work together. Anthony has got to know the group very well now and has identified lots of new ways for us to make Pureprint Group an even better business.
‘His understanding and experience of optimising operational performance is probably second to none and I am delighted considering the amount of offers he has received that he has agreed to join us on a full time basis. Following the purchase of Imprint in Newcastle in December 2014 and strong sales growth in the first six months of this year we now have 400 staff producing over £60 million of high quality bespoke printed products so the timing of Anthony’s arrival could not be better in driving the group onto the next level and maximising the opportunities that are presenting themselves to the business.’
Mr Thirlby commented, ‘Pureprint is a business that excites me and what has really attracted me to the company is the commitment to grow further through diversification and the use of the latest technology. Pureprint have already added six new production services to its core business in the last seven years – digital printing, data management, point of sale, packaging, project management and mailing and fulfilment – and this diversification has led to significant growth and over £30 million of investment. I am looking forward to working with the rest of the team across the different business units to make all parts of the group deliver a world class operational platform and customer experience.’
