John’s Rise From Making The Tea To MD!

Chichester executive John Kelly’s Silver Anniversary is one which is guaranteed to be imprinted on the company’s history.

He joined Matform on day-release from school as a trainee printer and tea-boy back in 1982. Now 25 years later he’s the Managing Director of the Terminus Road-based firm of screenprinters, engravers and precision engineers.

Over the past quarter of a century John has witnessed Matform’s commercial ascendancy, as well as his own personal climb from trainee screenprinter to print shop foreman and into management.

He has seen the business develop from a traditional screen printer into a specialist print solutions provider for UK and overseas businesses, including those involved in the healthcare, music, electronics, marine and food industries.

“When I first joined Matform at its premises in Ford it was on a day-release scheme from Westergate Community School. There were six or seven employees and it resembled a cottage industry.

“Now I believe that it has more structure, a workforce of 26, a growing client-base of between 300-400, and has been awarded contracts in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, and the USA ” said John (42).

Matform which has invested in state-of-the-art machinery and the latest print technology supplies products labels, self adhesive labels, specialist screenprinting, metal nameplates and large format digital printing for a broad range of applications.

The company’s work is much in evidence in everyday life and examples include the ticket machines and turnstiles of London’s underground, hospital beds and medical diagnostic equipment, and dog-waste disposal bins to name but a few!

Coincidentally, the 1983 intake of day-release students included a young trainee screenprinter, Jane Longlands, who would later become John’s wife!