Steve Mulcahy, CEO of Contact Originators
Success in the face of adversity
Producer of flexographic plates and innovative solutions for the corrugated and flexible markets worldwide, Contact Originators was founded three decades ago in 1992. The company started out in Bredbury, Stockport and despite having its resilience tested on more than one occasion is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Contact is headquartered in Dukinfield, Manchester and employs 75 members of staff with 54 based in Dukinfield and 21 working with partners on-site. The company was acquired by current chief executive officer Steve Mulcahy and finance director Gary Walker in 2019 when the previous owner retired.
Something that may come as a surprise for those in the industry is that Contact does not have a dedicated sales department. Instead, spearheaded by Mulcahy, the company utilises the expertise of its technically trained team, who have years of experience within the industry, to build relationships with new and existing customers. The company’s philosophy is that every member of the team is a sales ambassador for the business.
One example of this is Contact’s operations director Nick Mitchell who joined the company aged 18 as an apprentice. Mitchell has since accumulated over 20 years of experience within the reprographic industry and has held various positions within the company, giving him experience in several areas of the business.
Nick Mitchell, operations director, joined the company aged 20 as an apprentice
With a company ethos of ‘keeping abreast of innovation’, Contact utilises equipment and technology from manufacturers such as Esko, XSYS, and Kongsberg, as well as being a BETA testing site for new innovations. In line with this ethos, the company consistently looks at ways to be more agile through the development of bespoke systems and automation software. In doing this, Contact enables its customer partners to achieve their full potential which is something Mulcahy says will in turn allow the company to grow, demonstrating the true spirit of partnership.
Mitchell comments: “We are delivering world-class innovation at Contact, which is testament to the skills of our expert team, the partners we work with, and our customers who drive our focus on innovation and understanding of the reality of managing print production for printers. The combination of our expertise, partnerships and experience enables us to continually deliver pioneering solutions for our customers and the wider print and packaging industry.”
One example of a bespoke solution produced by Contact is automated digital shim printing technology, PrintHQ, which Contact developed in partnership with AV Flexologic for corrugated printers. Using inkjet technology to deliver key job information directly onto the flexo plate shim, the solution is the result of 12 months of collaboration between the two companies.
Another example is the company’s MagnaForma™ technology. The polymer flexographic plate was a world first when it was launched in 2017. Dimensionally accurate to 100 micron across the 2.8-metre width, the plate allows corrugate printers to maximise print yields by utilising the full width of the press.
Resilience and grit
On January 16th, 2020, Contact Originators suffered a fire at its original site in Bredbury. The fire destroyed two of the buildings and having lost 40% capacity and its ancillary services, the company was forced to find a new site. Looking back to the difficult time, Mulcahy praises the support of friendly competitors and the grit of his own team who pulled together to ensure that production continued despite the company having to move its entire operation to another premises.
“We came through on the back of the employees,” Mulcahy says. “The strength of this company is its staff, its people, and its adaptability; the ability of the team to pull together – especially in times of crisis. The fire was one that really tested the resolve of the company and the people.
The strength of this company is its staff, its people, and its adaptability; the ability of the team to pull together – especially in times of crisis”
“We got tremendous support from some friendly competitors of ours who helped us through the early stages, and I couldn’t thank enough the customer partners that we have that also helped us tremendously.”
Incredibly, due to its ability to move over to another site and continue production, Contact was able to grow the business, despite the impact of the fire. By October 2021, the company had located and secured the new premises five miles away from its previous site. The company now operates out of a purpose-built production unit housing an artwork studio and a platemaking and mounting suite.
Contact has invested over £5m in new buildings and equipment and the Dukinfield site is considerably larger than the previous location, making it ideal for future growth and expansion. A unique set-up of platemaking equipment puts process efficiency, sustainability, and right first-time production at the core of business structure.
As the company attempted to navigate the impact of the fire, the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and Contact was forced to face another hurdle.
“Within a few months of the fire which happened in January, we then had the Covid pandemic, which challenged us further. But the company responded, and it did so because of the positivity of its people and I’m very proud to lead that team of people,” Mulcahy comments.
The next challenge for Contact and indeed, the wider print industry, is the ability to continue to attract new talent and young people into print and its associated sectors.
“I think first of all, people are the future of any business, especially when you’re in a growth phase,” he says, adding: “So we have a policy where we like to promote from within and develop our people and develop the future managers and leaders of the business.
“The real challenge is how do we continue to bring people into the print industry and its associated sectors; it is the third largest employer in the UK and continues to be innovative, technologically driven and exciting – it’s an industry that offers many great opportunities for young people now and well into the future.”
As Contact celebrates its 30th year in business, Mulcahy reflects on some of the things that have contributed to the business’ success. “The company continues to evolve and adapt to the many challenges it has faced over the years, along with the changing demands of the market, and will continue to do so in the future.
Contact Originators is celebrating its 30 years in business
“Certainly, in the last ten years, we’ve looked at how to drive the business forward, what the company ethos is and the way the business has evolved. We’ve also focused very much on our team development, customer partners and the continuing needs of the market, and that has shone through certainly in the last three, four, five years.”
Contact’s efforts to support its partners and to continuously contribute to the industry through the production of new solutions hasn’t gone unnoticed. The company won top prizes for the second year running in the UK Flexographic Industry Association (FIAUK) Awards 2021.
In the awards, Contact scooped the Repro Company of the Year and Supplier of the Year awards with the latter voted for by printers and customer partners.
A circular economy
In July 2021, Contact introduced the largest still used for platemaking in Europe at its Dukinfield site which offers three-times the capacity than its previous one in Bredbury. Affectionately named Goliath, the 24,000-litre distillation unit is heated by steam instead of oil as part of Contact’s commitment to sustainable platemaking.
Contact’s MagnaForma™ technology was a world first when it was launched in 2017
While not all waste generated through plate production is in the hands of Contact, the company has put sustainability at the heart of its operations and is committed to becoming not just Carbon Neutral, but Carbon Negative.
On a day-to-day basis, the company strives to offset all its carbon and recycle any waste produced onsite. Within the first 12 months of being in its new site, Contact achieved zero waste to landfill, after partnering with a new waste management company which guarantees no waste goes to landfill. On a larger scale, in April this year Contact signed up to the United Nations Global Compact to support the creation of more sustainable supply chains for print and packaging.
The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest sustainability initiative and unites over 15,000 companies and 4,000 non-business participants globally. Being part of this initiative enables Contact to remain transparent and lead by example, setting a benchmark for others in the industry.
Affectionately named ‘Goliath’, Contact’s still is the largest used for platemaking in Europe
Looking to the future and Mulcahy offers a few words of insight into what’s in store for Contact in the years to come. “We continue to focus very strongly on both our supply chain partners and our customer partners. We are always looking ahead to what is coming next. We are constantly looking at ways to innovate and having the best equipment to do so; to be proactive in a way that we’re ahead of the curve, enabling customer partners to improve their print and the market they supply.
“The philosophy we’ve always followed here, is that if we can help our customers grow, then we will grow off the back of it. Rest assured, that’s what we will do.
“We’ll continue to focus on that. We’ll focus on our people. We’ve got a happy and successful workforce. You can see that when you walk around our facility, you’ll get the buzz from our people. That’s the future. The people, the customers, partners, and working with the right supply partners who can present new opportunities to help us innovate as well.”
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