YPP secures £1m investment to fuel growth

The YPP Group, owner of Your Print Partner, has secured a £1million investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) in order to continue growing.

As part of its future growth strategy, YPP is aiming to change the face of the personalised gifts market and will be using the investment to facilitate the launch of its latest subsidiary, Custom Gifts.

Custom Gifts is a new brand dedicated to personalised gifting. The new e-commerce website has been designed to provide online shoppers with the widest range of premium personalised gifts available, including hundreds of exciting licensed products from Warner Brothers, Disney, major UK football clubs and other familiar brands.

While this new investment is predominantly to fuel the new brand, it will also bring huge benefits to Your Print Partner.

YPP CEO, Stuart Maclaren, said: “We had an ambitious and exciting plan for growth, and one that required substantial funding. Over the course of six months we went through a wide range of investment raising options, from crowdfunding through to overseas venture capitalists, so today I am truly delighted to have been able to secure this investment for the group.”

“Your Print Partner is now seeing its largest ever volume of orders coming in, with more than 3,000 orders shipping every week. Our aim is to continue to allow Your Print Partner to flourish, while using our print and production expertise to take on the growing UK personalised gifts market with Custom Gifts.

“We see a real opportunity to change this market, just as we have done for a number of years in the wide format fabric printing sector.”

Following the £1million investment, YPP has also welcomed some new arrivals and a promotion.

After five years with the firm, starting as a graphic designer and working his way up the ranks in a flourishing design department, Chris Cheeseman has now been made creative director of YPP Group.

Jordan Lavender from Foresight Group has also joined the YPP Group board as investor director, with a new chairman and commercial director set to be appointed shortly.

Since the investment, seven new team members have joined YPP, with additional staff expected to be added to our production team as the company introduces new 24-hour production schedules to further increase capacity and reduce turnaround times.