Graphius extends network into the UK

Park Communications has ended a careful search for new owners capable of retaining its identity and culture.

Park Communications has became part of family owned Graphius, a Belgian group with sales annual sales amounting to €100 million. The deal was finalised in July.

“We drew up a list of what we wanted from a future home for Park,” says managing director Alison Branch. She owns the business along with Heath Mason, having acquired a former City and financial print group from the receiver in 1991. The company moved from premises in Hackney Wick to Beckton to make way for the 2012 Olympics, followed by investment in B1 Koenig & Bauer presses and a growing reputation for high quality print work in report and accounts, magazines and books.

The new owner had a similarly strong reputation for high quality book work supported by extensive case binding capacity. This is one of the synergies identified in talks between the two companies. “We had been talking before Covid-19,” she says. “Then when that hit priorities changed and it became more about survival. There is a very good fit in the cultures of the two businesses. We both look after clients and staff, share a professional approach and believe in honesty.”

Graphius has its main plant on the outskirts of Ghent with other operations in Antwerp, Brussels, Ostend and Paris. The business was started by the grandfather of brothers Denis Geers (CEO) and Philippe Geers (CFO). The UK was already a key market for the company with Joris Deckers heading a £5 million sales operation. Deckers joins the leadership team at Park. 

Denis Geers says: “The acquisition of Park, with its very well established reputation for quality and integrity, is a well considered move towards becoming a local producer in the UK. Our existing broad UK customer base, the competence of Park’s staff, and its high quality production facilities located where they are in London, convinced us to take this step.”

“We have the ambition to develop our activities in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the UK. With the acquisition of Park we are opening a new gateway to the UK and are looking to focus on local production there, eco-friendliness being just one of the benefits of this approach.”

Park’s search for new owners had taken in UK companies but there would always be a risk that consolidation might have stripped out the business and its staff. “We have built a business over the last 30 years. What happens to our staff is something that’s important to us. We have a really good team that is committed to us and will pull out all the stops. We need to show commitment to them.”

There is little overlap in customers, though both print for Christies and have some galleries in common says Branch, the Belgian company printing books and the UK company printing other collateral for these companies.

Book printing is the key opportunity as publishers bring work back from the far east into Europe and the UK. However, the lack of local case binding capacity is a barrier. A small scale case binding operation is likely for Beckton while longer run work can go to the new owner.

There will also be opportunities to benefit from Graphius’ greater buying power and influence with paper mills. Both companies also run Fujifilm plates, though the press platforms are different and workflow applications differ. IT teams from the two companies have already started talking, prepress will follow.

Park runs six-colour and ten-colour KBA Rapida B1 litho presses, Indigo digital print, 18 station Kolbus perfect binder, EFI Vutek large format and mailing with an extensive prepress operation that includes retouching skills.

Both organisations have a strong environmental ethos. Park works with Climate Partner to off set carbon emissions. Graphius has planted its own 3 hectare forest in the Ghent neighbourhood as part of its sustainability process.

Geers adds: “There’s a lot of knowledge present at Park that can help Graphius and vice versa, so together we will be greater than the sum of our parts; it’s a case of ‘one plus one equals three’.”