37 www.printmonthly.co.uk March / April 2024 - Issue 347 smith says. Another thing that is important to Premier and a core part of its culture is Corporate Social Responsibility and the company supports many good causes both locally and abroad. Over the years, Premier has worked extensively with charitable organisations such as Breast Cancer Care, Friends of Chernobyl’s Children, and InKind Direct. “Supporting causes such as these, is an extension of who Premier are as a company, our values, and our ethos, which is shared with our owners, OVOL Japan Pulp & Paper group,” Goldsmith explains. “In 2023, we helped to raise £34,000 for Primrose Hospice & Family Support Centre through our support of the Queen Bees’ 2024 calendar. “Our work with InKind Direct throughout 2023 saw a total of 27 pallets of paper donated, supporting 313 charitable organisations throughout the UK; including causes such as community projects, child/ youth care, family welfare, disability support, and education.” Also at the core of Premier is sustainability and the company has always endeavoured to offer its customers what Goldsmith describes as “an enlightened choice of paper and material”. “There’s an old Greek proverb that I like, ‘A society ▲ Premier often makes a lasting impression with its creative exhibition stand designs. Pictured: SDUK 2023 COMPANY SPOTLIGHT / PREMIER PAPER GROUP grows when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they will never sit’,” Goldsmith says and explains that as time has gone on, Premier felt it needed to offer something bigger with more of a lasting impact. In line with this, the company launched its Carbon Capture initiative which gives its customers and their clients the opportunity to mitigate the CO2 emissions from their product purchases to help to create and maintain native woodland in the UK. As of 2023, the Carbon Capture programme has raised over £1.7m for the Woodland Trust, planting almost 470,000 trees and capturing over 107,000 tonnes of CO2. This year, Goldsmith has been with Premier for 19 years and he says that having learned a lot in his time with the company, one thing has stood out since his first day – the culture. “The culture at Premier is a special one and the way in which the organisation looks after the wellbeing and development of its people is, I believe, second to none, and my favourite thing about the company.” It’s no secret that the past few years have posed a number of challenges for businesses, from rising costs, supply chain issues, and perhaps the most challenging of all, the Covid-19 pandemic. This period affected companies in many different ways and Goldsmith says despite being well positioned to deal with external pressures caused by the pandemic, Brexit implications, and so on, there’s no denying the extent to how far-reaching the impact of that period has been. “In my opinion, the combination of these factors has been the biggest challenge that we have overcome,” he says. However, Goldsmith adds that on a personal level, he is incredibly proud of the projects that his marketing team has delivered over the years, and on a company-wide level, he adds: “The aspect of Premier that I am most proud of is the versatility that we exhibit in our approach to the market and the ability to diversify into new sectors based on our customers’ evolving requirements.” So, what can we expect to see from Premier in 2024 and beyond? “Within Premier, we are working on a number of exciting developments and campaigns, which will come into fruition this year,” Goldsmith says, adding: “We are looking to enhance some of the services that we provide and introduce new product ranges to our portfolio. We will continue to grow, both organically and through acquisitions.” The culture at Premier is a special one and the way in which the organisation looks after the wellbeing and development of its people is, I believe, second to none, and my favourite thing about the company ▼ [L to R]: Hussein Ismail and Brad Goldsmith on a tree planting day for the Carbon Capture programme
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