Free but not cheap

Written by Gerry Mulvaney | 01 February 2012

I have only left two companies in the last thirty years and on this occasion it was infinitely more pleasant than the first. For a start, I have been planning my exit from the Danwood Group for the last couple of years, with their blessing and support.  I have been in the fortunate position of being able to hand over my responsibilities to two very capable young men in Martin Dean and Simon Warnes and for the last twelve months I have reduced my working week to three days. This has given me time to develop other interests and start to think about life in my sixth decade.

The first time I left a business in August 2004 came as a shock to the system. Although I had realised that my final restructuring proposals to Litho Supplies carried some personal risk, I had believed that I had sufficient support from my Board colleagues. I found out all too quickly that Finance Directors and Accountants are rather risk averse and together with my co-director Terry Cooper my employment abruptly ended. There followed a period of unplanned retirement, with the novelty wearing off quickly as the boredom set in.

Fortunately Danwood offered me the challenge of setting up a digital production division and in January 2005 I accepted it and joined them. I started with an empty desk and a telephone, together with a recently signed contract with Konica Minolta to launch their digital production products in the UK. Danwood were a large business in 2005 and now an even larger one in 2012. However they were not seen as a provider of digital print equipment like Xerox, Canon or Oce and the first challenge was set out our stall at Northprint in 2005 and be seen as a serious player. By this time a team had been formed and we launched the new division in Harrogate.

We got off to a flying start with the support of Konica Minolta and quickly installed a number of production units. It was a tough baptism for the Danwood engineers, used to the office customers. Not only are Printers very demanding, the operators usually know more about the equipment than the engineers and the machine specification is the starting point of the customer’s expectations, rather than the manufacturers limits. My advice to them at the time and it remains the same today, is to fix the customer; not the machine - that way lies the path to customer satisfaction.

The agreement to sell service and support Xerox equipment in 2009 was another milestone which brought its own unique challenges, but at the same time firmly established Danwood as one of the major players in the production print market. If the market leader thought we were worthy of servicing their equipment, then that should be a good enough recommendation for customers. Danwood now supply everything from the DC 550/560 right up to the iGen4 and together with the now extensive Konica Minolta range have a unique offering in the UK market.

Finally the wheel has come full circle with the agreement in 2011 with Litho Supplies to be their partner for the supply of digital production equipment to their customer base. It is not how I was planning it in 2004, but you will forgive me for feeling a sense of déjà vu.

In 2008 a relationship with the Capita group created from a production equipment installation in their print room, blossomed into a partnership with them in their customer base to supply the whole range of Danwood products and services including the full office product portfolio. Once we realised the value that had been created, it did not take long to extend this into other partnerships and the Affinity + partnership programme was created.

Reaching sixty is a good time for succession planning and in the last twelve months I have handed over responsibility for the Production business to Martin Dean, who has been the Sales Director since joining Danwood from Xerox in 2009 and the Affinity + partnership programme to Simon Warnes, who has worked tirelessly with me on the project from the start. I am very happy that I can walk away leaving both parts of the organisation in very good hands.

So what now?  Well apart from writing for Graphic Display World and Canals Rivers and Boats magazine I now have another three days a week on my hands and if I don’t find something else to do, Mrs Mulvaney will be quick to fill my time with jobs around the house. I joined the Council of PICON, the Printing Industry Confederation last year and am keen to find ways to help them promote the Industry that has given me a good living for the last forty years. I have also joined the IPEX 2014 committee looking to promote the show at Excel in two years time. But I still have some free time if someone out there wants some help with their business from an experienced Sales and Marketeer.

Mind you, as GDW editor Colin Gillman often reminds me “I might be free, but I am not cheap!”

Gerry Mulvaney
gerry@graphicdisplayworld.com