A PRINTING company in the district founded by a Jew who fled Nazi persecution is celebrating 70 years in business.
Warwick Printing Company was set up just after the end of the Second World War by Moric Schwarz, a Czechoslovakian Jew, who escaped to England during the war.
During the past seven decades the firm has gone from humble beginnings printing in small premises behind a bookshop in the centre of Warwick, to its current state-of-the-art facilities in Sydenham.
Mr Schwarz, using experience in the printing industry gained in his homeland, set up Warwick Printing Company in 1946. The bulk of the early work was for the thriving Midlands motor vehicle industry and included promotional literature and manuals. As the Company expanded, more space was needed and new premises were built on Theatre Street in Warwick.
In 1974 John Young joined the firm as general manager with the main objective of developing new business opportunities – with a focus on magazines, journals and short run books, which remain a core part of the work today.
Following a management buyout John became the owner and managing director, and now oversees a business involving three generations of the Young family.
John said: “I have witnessed many changes to the industry over the years such as the replacement of the hot metal typesetting machines with phototypesetting, which significantly sped up the process. Another step change in the process was the introduction of desktop publishing which then required us comprehensively retrain our existing team with very new skills.”
“Whenever these technological advancements have taken place, we have invested in the necessary equipment and training to ensure we have continued to deliver the best quality product to our clients.
“Over the years there have been some very difficult times for the print industry but we have worked very hard at developing and maintaining our relationships with customers, some of which we have served for over 30 years.
“We strongly believe that the best way to deliver a great service is to allow the customer to talk directly with the relevant person within the business from initial sales contact, through to design, prepress, production and delivery.”
The company is also involved in the community – providing sponsorship for the Leamington Regency 10k Run, and also supporting the Leamington Carnival as its print and design sponsor.
