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packaging, and brand identity and design. It has, he said, ‘68
printing presses and warehousing that would cover nine
football pitches’, and turned over £170 million in 2011, making it
one of Europe’s largest packaging print producers.
‘
NEVER
SAY
NO
’
What has contributed to the phenomenal success of the
company, which produced its first self-adhesive labels as
recently as 1994? Mr Lennon claims: ‘a “never say no” culture,
and a “model of excellence” service…Customer service, first
and foremost’. Paragon grew both organically and by
acquisition, focussing on the food market (but, with the
acquisition of William Sessions in 2010, signalling
diversification into the personal care and pharmaceutical
markets). Its modus operandi has led the company to
‘implant’ 50 Paragon staff at the headquarters of major
retailers, which has enabled significant streamlining of
packaging and print management processes, right at the point
of their inception.
The company has also made considerable initiatives in the
sustainability arena. The Paragon Recycling Centre,
established in 2007, recycles 80% of the waste product it
creates, separating ‘value’ waste – including release liner – for
sale, and collected 528 tonnes of liner waste from customers in
2011. The company has also developed a ‘road show’ on
sustainability for its end-user customers.
The dramatic story of Paragon Print and Packaging’s dynamic
growth is not, it seems, yet complete, because Mr Lennon told
delegates that he now wants to take the ‘unique’ Paragon
model into Europe and other geographies. That model’s key
enabler is the concept of service.
REWARDING
ACHIEVEMENT
Next on the agenda was the presentation of the prizes for the
2012 congress logo design competition, which attracted entries
from local design colleges, and was won by Georgios Karanikas
from Vakalo College of Art and Design in Athens; and of the
sparkling FINAT Label Awards 2012, which featured a truly
international base of winners. This early evening event was
followed by a delightful open air dinner in the grounds of the
Vorres Museum, which offered diners a menu of both modern
and classical art to accompany their food.
PARAGON
P
RINTOING
AND
P
ACKAGING
:
A
REAL
-
LIFE
LABEL
INDUSTRY
SUCCESS
STORY
Next morning, FINAT President Kurt Walker called the
meeting to order by introducing Dimitris Skordakis from E.
Skordakis and Co, who announced the foundation of the Greek
Label Association, of which he had been elected as the
founding President. He thanked FINAT and the Turkish Label
Association, led by Aydin Okay, for their inspiration and
guidance. Mr Walker welcomed the Greek association to the
international label community and looked forward to a fruitful
collaboration in the future.
Delegates were then treated to a real-life mega-success-story
in the label industry: the story of how Tony Lennon took
Paragon Printing and Packaging from a small label printer to
leader in labels and packaging for food. The Group’s CEO,
whose presence on the FINAT podium coincided with his
birthday, told a fascinated audience how he had started the
business with just eight people. Today it employs 1,100,
operates from eight production sites across the UK, has more
than 2000 customers on its books, and has diversified from
self-adhesive labels alone into sleeving and cartons, flexible
46
FINAT YEARBOOK
2013
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