Printing.com chairman announces retirement as company sees pre-tax profits fall by 3.7%
International print company Printing.com chairman George Hardie has announced his intention to retire from the board of the company as it announces a 3.8% drop in pre-tax profits for last year.
Reporting its financial results for year end 31 March 2012, the company made a pre-tax profit of 1.26m, down from £1.31m in 2011, with an increase in turnover of 27.9%, rising to £21.77m.
At the same time Hardie, who has been chairman since 2000, ahead of the company’s IPO, will retire, he has announced.
He said of his 12 years in the role; “During that period the Company evolved from a fledgling business with a good idea to a Group whose revenues have grown tenfold, operating in seven countries and has delivered eight consecutive years of profitable trading.
“At this point I am very mindful that the progress of the Group to date has been based upon the endeavours of a very committed and talented team which includes direct employees, our Franchisees, their employees and the teams within our international licence partners. I would also like to pay particular tribute to the team behind the Group's various new initiatives which I believe show excellence in innovation from both a technology and commercial stance,” he added.
Hardie also described the company’s online channels in Belgium and the Netherlands as being ‘robust’ but admitted that trading for its Franchise channels in the UK, Ireland and France remained ‘challenging’ as a result of both the economic situation and increase online competition.
A successor to Hardie has yet to be announced.