Reflecting on a fantastic year

Mike Braddock is feeling rather pleased with life at the moment, and so he should be. After completing another successful year as Managing Director of Slater Harrison, he has now also been appointed Managing Director of Webmaster. The supplier of self adhesive materials is a recent addition to the LS Dixon Group.

Delighted by the appointment, Mike explains one of the benefits of the acquisition: “This will enable us to diversify further into paper and film self adhesive materials and labels, adding value to some of our traditional coloured paper.”

Slater Harrison meanwhile has continued to “buck the trend” in the paper and board industry by recording the company’s best ever year, with turnover exceeding £13m.

“An increase in manufacturing capability has enabled us to offer speciality coatings and laminates with our range of finishes,” Mike said. “With productivity increasing, our storage capability has come under pressure, hence the purchase of a further 495 square metres of storage space in a unit just over the road from our factory.”

Slater Harrison has experienced some astonishing success in the Millennium year in what is for us a relatively new market - decorative packaging. We continue to develop new ideas and finishes for this growing market, some of which are already on sale and are featured elsewhere in this issue.

The alliance with Tullis Russell continues to flourish, with sales of product into the Education market now accounting for 30% of our annual turnover. However, perhaps the most significant growth during this year has been in Display Board. Turnover for this product range has virtually doubled and now, with the introduction of Prestbury Board, our economy display board, we are able to compete in what used to be very much a closed shop.

Mike Braddock is looking forward to another prosperous year, and comments: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers and suppliers for their support throughout 2000 and very much look forward to working with you all during 2001.”

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It pays to display for Winsor and Newton

Winsor & Newton, a leading art materials supplier and a name familiar to artists all over the world, is making the most of its close working relationship with Slater Harrison to capitalise on the benefits of displaying our products at point of sale.

In 1832, William Winsor, a chemist, and Henry Newton, an artist, founded their business in the heart of artistic Fitzrovia, London. As a result of this unique partnership came the invention of modern water colouring as we know it -they introduced the world’s first moist water colour pan. Now, almost 170 years later, they are still introducing new products to the art and graphics market.

Slater Harrison’s involvement with the Winsor & Newton brand began only two years ago, although we have worked with Colart Fine Art & Graphics Limited, the corporate company and brand owner, for almost a decade. When we introduced Colourmount into Winsor & Newton stores in 1999, it was well received by artists and graphic designers for mounting and display, so after just one year, we decided to add two more ranges: Colourcard and Inspirations.

To ensure that our three ranges were not only beautifully displayed in store, but also that the product was correctly stored to maintain its quality (sheets of board or card should never be stood up, always laid flat), we created display stands especially for Winsor & Newton. These wirex stands are coated in plastic in the house colours and incorporate a magnetised header board with the company logo.
Sales of all three ranges have increased since the introduction of the new stands and Winsor & Newton’s UK Marketing Manager, George Frangeskou, is delighted with the results. “Slater Harrison has worked closely with us to develop the business and the benefits can been seen in both the trade and consumer markets.”

For further details on Winsor & Newton, please contact Customer Services on 020 8427 4343.