Print Solutions: Positive for Print
‘Premier is a very agile company and we are able to move quickly in order to support the changing needs of our customers. This has led to a significant investment programme in developing market sectors and in a number of geographical areas across the UK where we are refining our service offer and increasing the choice of products available for our customers,’ said David Jones, group marketing director, Premier Paper.
‘Our new 63,000 square foot warehouse in Dartford is a great example of our commitment to, and belief in, the print and communication industry. Dartford is our centre of operations for London and the whole of the South East.
Throughout the area we have three branches – Dartford, Hertford and Langley – with a combined capacity of around 90,000 square feet of warehouse space. All warehouses have narrow aisle racking, to maximise our capacity, housing 26,000 pallets of stock. All of our products are delivered by trained drivers, who are familiar with handling our products, on our own fleet of 30 delivery vehicles which service London and the South East daily.’
He continued, ‘Dartford also holds an extensive range of wide format roll and large format sheet media for the display market. We carry a wide choice of display products, including foam boards, aluminium composite material (ACM) and acrylic sheets in various thicknesses, all available to be converted to an exact size and quantity as required by our customers. Again, the investment in this area has been significant, with the installation of a state of the art Striebig wall saw, controlled by optimising software to ensure the most efficient and cost effective conversion of products.’
In September 2017, Premier opened a new 16,000 square foot branch in Bristol to support business growth throughout the South West. March 2020 will see Premier more than double the size of its Bristol operation to meet the needs of its customers. The branch now has 35,000 square feet of warehouse capacity holding over 10,000 pallets.
Keeping products close to local markets provides customers with choice, availability and flexibility of service. Product ranges stocked locally include graphical papers and boards, envelopes, packaging, reels, office papers, wide format, display products and the UK’s largest range of digital media for sheet fed applications.
Over 5000 tonnes of product are now held in Bristol, supported by a further 40,000 tonnes of product held in the Premier network and all available for next day delivery.
The new expanded Bristol operation will also support the growing demand for packaging, wide format and display products with local stocks and specialists on hand to offer customers help and guidance.
Some 17 Premier owned and liveried delivery vehicles service the South West region with carrying capacities varying from 3.5 tonnes to 26 tonnes giving a total daily delivery capability of a massive 265 tonnes. The variety and flexibility of delivery options available to Premier throughout the South West enables the company to meet customers’ specific needs. In addition, Premier is introducing ‘twin deck’ trucks into the delivery fleet in order to meet the growing demand for display products.
The new expanded Bristol operation will also continue to support Premier’s Newton Abbot branch, servicing customers throughout Devon and Cornwall.
Six new positions have been created in the Bristol team over the last two years, both within the logistics operation and also in the customer service function, where packaging and display graphics specialists are on hand to work closely with customers. Phil Trudgeon joined the Bristol team in February, as area sales director, bringing with him many years of experience and market knowledge.
David Jones, commenting on Bristol, said: ‘Our continued investment in the South West demonstrates confidence in the industry as a whole and our long term commitment to our customers in the region. The new Bristol branch will now allow us to expand our service. Giving customers a greater choice from a locally held product range is a key part of our service offer and a major factor as we drive towards greater productivity and efficiency. We continuously analyse our business in a number of ways, including reviewing both product and geographical demand. Premier’s Cheltenham satellite logistics hub, which is comprised of three vehicles and a little under 7000 square feet of warehouse space, will now be integrated into the new 35,000 square foot Bristol operation, fitting more closely with how our business has developed over recent years. The three people based in Cheltenham have been offered positions in Bristol as part of our expanding operation.’
North East
“In spite of the numerous external economic factors such as; decreasing global demand for coated paper, the uncertainty of Brexit and now coronavirus impacting on the UK economy, Premier continues to grow in its key strategic development areas.
Our Washington operation is a great example of achieving growth in a challenging market. The branch and its satellite logistics hub, based in Carlisle, services customers throughout the north of England and into the Scottish borders and has consistently grown volumes year on year. Premier has now acquired an adjoining unit and has doubled the available warehouse space to 11,000 square feet, improving efficiency and customer service levels to support future development plans”
