Mercian Labels has been acquired by Asteria, one of the fastest growing label conglomerates in Europe. Mercian joins the likes of CS Labels, Berkshire Labels and Proprint Group in the Belgian headquartered business.
Dr Adrian Steele who has led the Burntwood business for 25 years now leaves the business completely. He stepped back from the lead role at the start of this year becoming non executive director and handing day to day control to general manager Richard Jones. Long term director Hugo Gell and non executive chairman Martin Dallas are also leaving.
This leaves a team of 66 running a business that covers flexo, UV inkjet and dry toner with an advanced automated workflow built around Cerm.
As well as food and drink, healthcare, drinks, pharmaceuticals and chemical sectors, Mercian has specialised in intelligent labels for blood banks and high security labels under the tamper proof LabelLock brand.
It is this that attracted interest from the expanding Belgian led group. CEO Ives Declerck in a LinkedIn post says: “Mercian Labels has built an outstanding reputation for quality, customer service and technical expertise. Their capabilities in flexographic and digital printing, together with specialist security labelling solutions such as LabelLock make them a valuable addition to our group.”
Discussions between the two have taken place over recent months. “It’s the right fit for us,” says Jones. “We share the same values and have the same forward looking approach. It feels right.”
This is endorsed by Declerck who says “the Mercian ethos means the cultural fit is a natural one” adding: “Mercian has earned an excellent reputation for quality, expertise and customer focus. Their capabilities complement our existing UK operations perfectly, while their strong position in food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets strengthens opportunities for future growth.“
Mercian has been an early adopter of technologies from Xeikon, more recently adding Screen inkjet presses to the mix and replacing one of the Xeikons. It also runs conventional flexo presses with a staffing complement of 63. It has a full set of certifications including AA+ BRGS packaging materials and a commitment to cutting environmental impact through Mercian Zero.
As part of Asteria Mercian gains the support of a supportive owner and a greater number of cross selling opportunities as Asteria has 40 other plants across Europe. “The expansion of our UK label offering signifies another exciting step in our progress as one of Europe’s leading label and packaging solution providers,” says Asteria.
The acquisition means that Mercian has had to drop out of the Concordia Group of independent European label printers where Dr Steele has been president.
In his valedictory message on LinkedIn he says: “stepping away from something you have helped build and nurture is both a proud and emotional moment. What started as a small business became a multi award winning company with an exceptional reputation for automation in the labels industry, thanks to the hard work, commitment, and talent of so many people over the years.
“One lesson I have learned is that truly successful businesses are bigger than any one individual. Mercian Labels’ future now rests with a brilliant management team and workforce, and I have every confidence they will continue to take the business from strength to strength.”
