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www.stephensandgeorge.co.uk
MIKE DONOVAN Technical Manager
I started at S&G as a 16 year old, the place was full of weird and wonderful characters and felt like an extended family
I was amazed that all the older people were so willing to spend time with me and show me how things should be done. They made it all seem more like a craft than a job and took great pleasure in making things perfect. I started on the guillotine and six months later I moved to the planning department and became a film planner. The training I received was pretty intense and repetitive, but 20 years on I can still write up folding impositions despite not having the need to do so for over a decade.
The four year apprenticeship flew by and as the business grew I was soon looking after trainees myself. I did courses at Cardiff University on image scanning and desktop publishing and within four years I was working in the repro department. I spent most of the next few years training clients how to supply PDF files and developing our workflow. As the Pre-press manager the Company developed me with internal and external management courses and provided me with a mentor – it was Andrew Jones – so no pressure at all!
Since then my career development saw me progress to Client services manager, overseeing the pressroom, pre-press and customer services.
Being a self-confessed “Nerd”, the Company changed my role to my current one three years ago. I now spend my days looking after Navision our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the Company’s colour management and all our online publications. All three areas were new to S&G and the Company has been supportive and patient with the development, providing a large budget with excellent training resources. Working at S&G has been a great experience. I have been lucky enough to spend time in other countries, I have been able to train and be a part of the cutting edge of the print industry, it is much more satisfying to develop ideas rather than being guided down a well-worn path. The Company’s investment in people has been aided by an investment in technology, making us a very dynamic Company.
Our print quality is second to none, our turnover is showing healthy growth, investment in people and technology has been to its usual high levels and the Company is profitable. The next ten years will hopefully see continued growth and the youngsters we have brought into the business in the last few years develop into the next line of managers. I am pleased to have played a small part in the Company’s hundred years, it is a fantastic milestone to have reached and one everybody at S&G can be proud of.
GARETH COLLINS Estimating Manager
I started working at S&G in July 1989, the Company was recruiting pupils from schools within the vicinity and I was asked to join them for the summer holidays, after this time I was offered a permanent position and I have been here ever since!
As I joined straight from school I felt like a small fish in a very big pond, there were approximately 80 employees at the time. I enjoyed being treated as an adult and not as a student and of course, the addition of being paid for being there also helped!
After my initial induction period I was offered a position within the customer service department. I worked within the department for 4 years and in 1993 moved to our commercial division, during this time I worked alongside the MD and learnt the role estimating. I continued with the role for a couple of years and in 1995 the estimating department moved onto one site and I took up my current role of estimating Manager. In addition to running the estimating department I also manage the paper purchasing for the Group, we use in excess of 10,000 tonnes and spend over £7m per annum on paper so it’s important that I get it right!
The professional attitude to business and the “want” to get the job done
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