The same bank manager for its 21 years of trading, and the same accountant for two decades. It must be a sleepy, steady business? Anything but.
Display Logistics, creator of retail Point of Sale (PoS) and its new parent group Melita, have had a lively time, with more to come for the venture and eight family members at the heart of its 43-strong workforce.
This business has also completed two acquisitions in the last 18 months, relocated four sites into one at Meridian Business Park, established a new group structure with increased staff and won its first highly-prized industry award at the first attempt.
Founder Steve Jacques said, “I was fed up with my job at a PoS company one day and told my wife I'd handed my notice in. She said go for it or you'll never know what might have been.”
“My first project, worth £88,000, had to be fulfilled, or turned down knowing I'd have missed my big chance. I hired vehicles, got drivers and it evolved from there. We went from nothing to a £4 million turnover business purely achieved by word of mouth recommendation.”
Steve recognised the business was reliant on one major client: “We were vulnerable. To diversify the customer base we bought two businesses, which were very active in other sectors.”
Early on, Steve's bank manager introduced him to Paul Hollinshead of Mark J Rees. Steve said, “The business has had sticky patches and Paul has always helped us get through. He has been integral to every plan we have put forward and has held our hand all the way. Mark J Rees is effectively a fourth director on our board. Through our regular meetings with Paul and his team, we benefit from knowing that we only have to lift the phone up to have a solution in place.”