Meet members of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce - Special focus on Apple Print & Creative
Business profile of a successful Newbury chamber member
MANY West Berkshire Chamber members are successful businesses. In the first of an occasional series, we profile Apple Print & Creative of Newbury:
The boss: Andrew Watts, MD, became sole owner of the company in 2014. Andrew started on a YTS scheme and progressed through print management to lead the sales and marketing function for the business. There is no role within the company that he has not undertaken personally at one time.
What is your business about? Communication. We help our clients get their message to their chosen target audience – through good creatives, high-quality production and the relevant media. We even measure their success in each campaign.
What product/services do you offer? We print lithographically and digitally and will also make posters, banners and exhibition stands. We have a highly creative studio together with a marketing services team. They provide a wide range of services, including managed social media, integrated DM campaigns and partner sales incentives.
How and when did you start your business? We have been based in Newbury since 1986.
How many staff do you employ? Twenty people with five having worked for 15 years or more for the company.
Who are your customers? Start-ups wanting business cards and their first business stationery through to global companies requiring training programs or sales collateral anywhere in the world.
What sets you apart from the competition? It has to be our service to our customers – going that extra mile on each project and working with, not for, our clients.
How have economic conditions affected business? Diversifying into marketing services while retaining the core business has allowed us to grow over the past six years when regrettably a number of traditional print companies have ceased operating.
How do you feel about the future? Very positive. West Berkshire is a vibrant business community in which to work and as we grow our national and international reputation we are attracting more business enquiries than ever before. We have expanded our client account management team recently and will be looking to attract more high calibre people next year.
