Galloways is a family business that dates back over 150 years and is now being run by the sixth generation, Matt Galloway. Paul Andrews spoke to Matt to find out more about his journey.
As Matt explains, “For the first decade of my career, although I had fond memories of the business growing up I was keen to explore other challenges in different areas of business. Upon returning to the UK in 2012, I joined the business as it was what I wanted to do and the time was right but there was certainly no pressure on me or any of my siblings to join the business.’
Matt worked with his father for a number of years gaining knowledge and experience, although as planned his father was looking to step back at the age of 60 to travel and enjoy his retirement. Matt knew that he had to gain the knowledge to stand him in good stead so he set about learning the all aspects of the business. As Matt continues, “We made a big decision back in 2019 when we invested significantly to transform our business with new technologies and systems to drive growth in an ever changing print landscape. This increased productivity and efficiencies, which in turn helps our customers achieve the best return on investment from their print marketing”
Like any next generation that wants to be successful, Matt was keen to make his mark.
Taking a business that had historically been traditional print communications and processes to get jobs done, it was recognised that web-to-print was an opportunity.
The business model was amended to see growth by way of print, fulfilment and distribution with Galloways eliminating administration cost from a client perspective, whilst giving complete transparency on marketing spend to company management.
Matt is driven to succeed, adding that “This is a fast paced industry and there is a lot of change, especially with a turbulent economy and the ongoing pressures post covid but we focus on the future and think strategically as much as we can. It is so easy to get into a firefighting mentality and not focus on the bigger picture things that make a difference so we are always looking at ways to improve and future proof the business.”
As the sixth generation of the family in the business, Matt is aware of the responsibility he holds for a business that has been around for over 150 years.
“History and heritage are important but we have to be active, agile and respond to customer needs."
His passion is evident too. “Print touches a lot of senses and we like to get involved at all stages of the process to ensure we can pass on our knowledge to help customers deliver the most impact from their print, visually, texturally and even by way of smell,” he adds.
“Our customers’ tell us that it’s reassuring to find a printer who believes as much in continuity as it does development. We’ve been producing exceptional print since 1870 and our commitment to service and competitive pricing hasn’t changed. One of the things we pride ourselves on is our ability to translate complex print terminology to plain English so that you know exactly what you’re going to get and make sure that we deliver an outstanding product,” explains Matt.
“We work as an extension of a marketing department, alongside graphic designers and together with print buyers and take a practical, commercial approach to every project and understand how print fits into the overall marketing mix, which is really important when delivering the projects that we do.”
“It is important to us that we do business the right way as well and sustainability is another area that sets the business apart from others,” he adds.
“The UK has only a handful of certified Carbon Balanced Printers and we are proud to say that Galloways is one of them.”
Carbon balanced printing provides a number of benefits to customers such as:
- Meeting their own carbon footprint objectives
- Helping to protect the environment
- Investing in a sustainable future
- Supporting green energy projects
- Being part of a global voice to help fight global warming.
Galloways partner with the World Land Trust and its carbon balanced programme to offer carbon balanced printing, a partnership that helps preserve more than 2 million acres of biologically significant and threatened forests and habitats. The World Land Trust is supported by Sir David Attenborough, Chris Packham, and Steve Backshall and Galloways are proud to be in partnership with such a respected organisation.
As Matt concludes, “We are proud to put sustainability on the agenda here at Galloways and to be a family business that cares."
"The UK has only a handful of certified Carbon Balanced Printers and we are proud to be one of them. We are committed to investing in our processes and products which means we can offer sustainable printing solutions too."
"We even go further by offering to carbon balance the paper we buy on behalf of our customers which helps further reduce the impact on the environment.”
“At Galloways we aim to become a trusted partner, delivering the bespoke package to clients efficiently and within budget. We strive to deliver over 150 years of customer care within today’s digital arena proactively offering advice when requested. We are open for business and happy to discuss the needs of sustainable printing with any other family business that is interested.”
Find out more at www.galloways.co.uk
Download a copy of the Galloways Carbon Balanced Printing brochure below: