On the 5th of May, SEDO MD Andy McGuinness will be celebrating a very special anniversary – it will be ten years since he joined the company founded by his father, Brian McGuinness in 2005. In 2009, it seems, the stars collided – a longstanding employee was about to retire after working with Brian for more than 30 years, and Andy was looking for a change from his job at Prudential M&G. It seemed like the ideal moment to join the family business.

Early days
“Initially my father was concerned,” says Andy. “Not only that our dynamic would change but so too would the dynamic of the business.” But Andy was determined to show Brian that employing him had been the right move, and Brian was soon impressed by how quickly his son got to grips with the software and accounting programs.

“My first role was managing the supplies and print side of the business,” continues Andy. “In the first three years, I grew the supplies and print side by 214 percent.” No mean feat for someone new to the industry. “In 2011 we hired Luke Walford to handle the supplies and print side, as I wanted to move into machine sales.”

The new director
Andy was made a director of SEDO in 2012 – which turned out to have been a pivotal year for the company. “We entered into discussions with a copier reseller about the possibility of their buying the business,” explains Andy. “Fortunately, the discussions floundered, and the sale never went ahead. Shortly afterwards, that company went into administration – which would have been the end of SEDO. So I definitely feel like we had a lucky escape.”

By the end of 2016, Brian was ready to hand over the reins, and on January 1, 2017, Andy became SEDO’s Managing Director. “Since then, we’ve increased revenue by 33 percent,” says Andy, “so I have to point out to Brian that he was holding us back! I’m not sure he finds that terribly funny…”

In the last 10 years, the company has grown only when a department reached full capacity. “We’ve now got seven employees, and I feel the time has come to make a push and instigate some inorganic growth. Plans are afoot, so watch this space…”

10 years in the industry
10 years with SEDO means that Andy’s been working in the large format print industry for 10 years – and he’s seen some significant changes in that time. “During my decade with the company, things have moved on in our industry,” he says. “When I first started, I was selling mainly aqueous printers. Now, however, eco solvent printers outstrip aqueous printer sales. B&W plan printers have become pretty much redundant as sales of inkjet CAD printers are increasing – this is because the entry costs have dropped, requiring a lower volume to make them viable. Colour toner printers are replacing the old B&W plan printers.”

Flatbed and UV printers have certainly become more affordable – they’re now commonplace among even companies operating on tight budgets. On the other hand, after an early surge, dye sublimation printing hasn’t really found a place in the UK market yet. “Hopefully, its time will come,” says Andy. “The supplies market is a lot harder than ten years ago as there’s more choice and customers shop about more than they used to.”

Committed to the industry and committed to the business
So, did Andy make the right choice in coming to work for SEDO or does he still wonder what might have happened if he’d stayed in finance? This makes him laugh. “Coming to work for SEDO was definitely the right choice for me. Despite people making bold claims about the print industry being dead, it’s actually thriving, and I love the daily challenge of running a small, but forward-thinking, business like SEDO.”