Specialist printing company takes on employee ownership

More than 30 years ago, George Burr wanted to set up his own printing company for Bristol and beyond, as he felt he wanted to provide local, high-quality, and bespoke printing services to businesses and individuals.

Today it is led by managing director Tom Chard: “We are an established specialist printing company offering fine art giclee printing, map printing, greeting card printing and wallpaper printing.

“We also offer bespoke services such as ordering personalised maps (partnering with Ordnance Survey), creating ‘retro’ 1890 style maps for any postcode and much more.”

Since the business started, it has evolved to employ 14 staff members with some having worked within the business for more than 20 years.

“We work with many individuals, especially around our map services, we also work with established artists who want to provide affordable versions of their artwork alongside originals – such as greetings cards or limited edition prints,” Tom said.

Redcliffe Imaging works with artists including Jenny Urquhart, known for her iconic images of Bristol, and Peter Spens, known for his fine art work of London and the official artist for the Olympics in London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020.

George made the decision to step back from the company and opted for converting the business into an employee-owned trust.

He said: “I chose an EOT as a viable exit route as I considered it was the best way to acknowledge the massive contribution of the long-serving employees of Redcliffe. It also had tax advantages for both myself and the employees.

“In this transition period I’m still involved with Redcliffe, but in a much smaller, hands off way. This new free time has enabled me to make extended travel plans and spend more time in the great outdoors, which is my great passion.”

An employee-owned trust allows the founder or owners of a business to exit by selling their shares to a trust run by employees. They can exit immediately or over a period of time.

“Becoming employee owned has been a steep learning curve for us all in that it takes time to understand how it works and who is responsible for what,” Tom said.

“Now the ‘new look’ Redcliffe is beginning to ‘bed in’ and we understand that the harder we work and the more productive we are, the more we will all benefit.”

The Redcliffe Imaging team were supported in becoming an EOT by Chris Maslin who runs Go EO, an independent company which works with SMEs considering this business model.

“Having gone through the process myself, I felt it was, in many cases, far more complex and costly than it needed to be and came up with a more streamlined approach to help others transition to this business model,” Chris said.

“Working with Chris was very smooth with regular meetings and strong communication. It was all new and a big change for us all and Chris really supported us through the process… The service was outstanding. Chris has helped us to understand that we need to tailor how the trust works for us and the nuances of our business,” said Tom Chard.

This year looks bright for the new Redcliffe Imaging, as they plan to increase productivity by 30 per cent and are investing in a new kit, including a new wallpaper printer with trimmer, to enhance their printing accuracy.

For more information about Redcliffe Imaging visit https://www.redcliffe.co.uk/