When Jeff Howarth moved to Leamington Spa nine years ago with no job and no prospects, his designs on a career in the printing trade were little more than ‘pie in the sky’.

But with some support from The Chamber, he is now the owner of a thriving design and print company with a £1 million turnover.

Jeff first set up Masterprinters with an allowance grant from The Chamber in 1991 and set about establishing a customer base from scratch.

He recalls:

"I’d fallen in love with Apple Mac design and was determined to start my own design and print business. It was hard work at first and meant knocking on a lot of doors, but it gradually started to pay off."

Now from his premises on Radford Road, Jeff employs 17 people and works for a number of high profile local businesses, including Warwick Castle.

And en route to his current success, Jeff has turned to The Chamber for various business development services such as staff training courses on telephone technique, marketing and selling as well as general mentoring from his personal business adviser, Jeff Brockwell.

Jeff says: 

"The support I have received from The Chamber has been invaluable and has without doubt helped the company get to the position it is in today."

For the future, Jeff is keen to take his company to the next stage of development which in the interim will mean assessing current services and capabilities while determining customer requirements for the future.

Jeff Brockwell adds: 

"Jeff is a true entrepreneur and it has been a great pleasure working with him to develop Masterprinters. I feel sure that he will continue to grow the business and look forward to playing a part in that process."