Big client deals and international work send Communisis back to black

​The firm, which employs around 600 people in Leeds and Copley, reported ​a £17.3m ​pre-tax profit in 2015, a big improvement on 2014’s pre-tax loss of £13.2m, which included a £21m goodwill impairment.​​

Communisis CEO Andy Blundell said growth is coming from new contracts, the renewal of big existing client deals and international growth.

“Five years ago we had no business outside the UK. Now a fifth of our sales come from abroad. We have gone where clients want us to go,” he said.

“We operate in Paris, Madrid, Rome and Frankfurt. Warsaw is emerging as an important staging post. Turkey is a good market for us and we’ve just opened in Dubai. Firms like Procter & Gamble want their marketing services managed on an international basis.”

He estimates that international operations could provide a third of total revenue over the next two to three years.

The firm employs 350 to 400 people in Leeds and 200 to 250 in Copley, mostly working on direct mail for firms such as Lloyds, Barclays, Legal & General.

“The demise of direct mail has been called too many times. We are also working in the education sector in exam papers and ballot papers,” said Mr Blundell.

“We hope to do work for the upcoming EU referendum.”

Communisis said it is neutral on the referendum.