Our commitment to investing in people, technology and quality
Our philosophy at Kingfisher Labels is to grow the business through total customer satisfaction. So how can we guarantee our clients will be happy with our quality and service? Join us as we reflect upon our journey to date.
Martin Jackson, our Managing Director, established Kingfisher in 1996 and he quickly realised the business would need to invest in people, premises and print technology to become a market leader in self-adhesive labels.
So, over the last 23 years, investment and innovation has been at the core of Kingfisher’s success.
From the very first purchase of a Mark Andy 3 colour flexo press in 1996 to a £1 million investment in machinery and technology in 2019, we are incredibly proud of our where we have come from…and we are super excited at where we are going!
Our story is one of local success in a global market. We moved to a 2,500 sq. ft factory in Yate, Bristol in 2001 and further investment in new technology meant we needed to buy additional warehouse space in 2008.
The extra space presented us with fresh opportunities and the ability to diversify into exciting new sectors. The purchase of the award-winning Edale Alpha-Multi press in 2010 further enhanced our print capabilities.
Importantly, with the market constantly evolving, the Alpha-Multi allowed us to respond quickly to customers’ changing demands such as shorter print runs.
The new, agile Kingfisher Labels was now working with businesses at home and abroad but remained true to its roots as a family business. Martin recruited his son Karl as Production Director and enlisted external experience and expertise when Andy Watts joined as Sales Director in 2013.
Kingfisher had earned a market-leading reputation and status, but the family ethos was, and remains, central to the ongoing success of the business.
Taking Kingfisher to the next level
Martin tasked Karl and Andy with taking Kingfisher to the next level and following another period of sustained growth, the business moved again, this time to a new 10,000 sq. ft factory in 2015. The new factory was also in Yate, allowing Kingfisher to continue to establish itself in the local community.
The new location gave us the opportunity to further innovate and drive growth. We purchased a new state-of-the-art press, bringing our total number of presses to four.
You could be forgiven for thinking that this exceptional growth meant we didn’t have time to pause and celebrate our achievements…but we did. Our passionate and committed team were able to reflect upon us achieving Kingfisher’s 20th Anniversary in 2016.
After significant investment over twenty years, some companies would have been happy to enter a period of consolidation. Against a backdrop of political and economic uncertainty, Kingfisher adopted the contrary mindset and the leadership team was already eyeing the next opportunity.
In 2018, we embarked on our biggest single project to date. We planned to invest £1 million in machinery, infrastructure and people.
Our latest Edale FL3 press arrived in April 2019 and we are currently undertaking infrastructure improvements at our factory.
We have continued to invest in the development of our people and welcomed some exciting local talent to our business in recent weeks, strengthening our already outstanding team.
So, at the beginning of this blog we raised the question of how to guarantee quality and customer satisfaction in a highly competitive market. We’ve done it by monitoring market trends and continually investing in technology, machinery, infrastructure, innovation and people.
Are you ready to start your journey with Kingfisher Labels?
Contact our Sales Director, Andy Watts on 01454 321456 or e-mail Andy at andy@kingfisherlabels.co.uk