As part of their strategic mission to grow through acquisition, Mercian Labels are pleased to have acquired a portion of business from Computype Europe Ltd, who has re-strategised to focus on their core product lines for the European market.

‘As one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of self-adhesive labels, we are constantly looking of ways to expand in our areas of competence as well as geographically’, said Adrian Steele, MD of Mercian Labels. ‘The areas involved require critical specialist constructions of adhesives, inks and substrates, and over our 50 years of growth we have a developed a high level of technical expertise in them. Computype have nurtured their relationships in these areas over a number of years, and this deal represents a careful handover of valued customers to a trusted manufacturer as they look to strategically focus in fewer core markets. We have recently invested in state-of-the-art equipment to expand our world class capabilities in high volumes of variable data and are pioneering development in intelligent industrial automation. We have a lot to offer customers like these’.

Sarah Richardson, Computype’s Chief Commercial Officer added: ‘A recent strategic review of our business in Europe highlighted the need for us to refocus around our core markets, where we can really help our customers, innovate with new products and drive differentiation.  For the remaining, non-core product lines, we were excited to find a great partner in Mercian Labels, who has the capability and focus to service these customers moving forward.  It was vital that we achieved a seamless transition and with the right people.  We believe Mercian Labels will achieve the best possible outcome for all concerned’.

Mercian Labels

Mercian Labels was established in 1969 and enjoys a reputation for over half a century as one of the longest running and yet most progressive self-adhesive label manufacturers in the UK. With a combination of flexo, screen-print, digital and inkjet technologies, the company has in 2020 embarked in a £1m initiative to improve and automate further its manufacturing capabilities. In addition to short and long-run self-adhesive label work, they also specialise in high speed, long run variable data, and barcode production, and manufacture the globally recognised brands of LabelLock™ security labels, and the Gammatex™ chemical sterilisation indicators.

Known for industry-beating lead times and exceptional service, Mercian manufacture to ISO 9001, ISO 17712, and A grade BRC packaging standards, with ISO 14001 to follow later this year. Their 24/7 world class manufacturing facility is located in the heart of the UK, allowing fast distribution to locations throughout the UK and EU, and to customers beyond the Indian Ocean. They enjoy double-digit profitable growth in the face of relentless pressures and continue to pursue opportunities to increase their market share of the self-adhesive market in its many guises.

Computype

Since 1975, Computype has proudly provided problem-solving identification and tracking solutions to mission critical processes and applications.  A family-owned company, Computype prides itself on their ability to offer unique solutions to tracking and labelling challenges that extend to promote process improvements.  Focused primarily in lab and manufacturing operations, Computype’s manufacturing centre of excellence is based in St Paul, MN, USA.