Printing.com Boss Wins Entrepreneur Award

Tony Rafferty, chief executive of Printing.com, has been crowned a winner in the business services category of the Entrepreneur of the Year awards in the north of England.

Tony Rafferty, chief executive of Printing.com, has been crowned a winner in the business services category of the Entrepreneur of the Year awards in the north of England.

The Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards seek to recognise and celebrate the achievement of entrepreneurs within successful growing, dynamic businesses.

The awards winners were announced at a ceremony held at Leeds Town Hall.

Presenting Rafferty with his award, the judges expressed their admiration for Printing.com's rapid growth and the idea on which the business is based.

They also remarked on Rafferty's passion, vision and his willingness to speak his mind.

Steve Smith, a partner at Ernst and Young in Manchester said: "This is a tremendous achievement for all the award recipients and I am delighted to see Tony's work recognised for his entrepreneurial ability and flair." All the northern region award recipients, who were selected from 42 finalists, will go through to the national final in October, from which the overall UK Entrepreneur of the Year will then go forward to the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo in the spring of 2006.

In 1992, when Tony Rafferty was 24 years-old, he founded Printing.com in Manchester, with only one PC, a laser printer, fax machine and GBP 3,000 of funding.

The company has diversified from targeting SMEs direct, to launching dedicated Printing.com stores.

The company now provides full colour, quick print services across a 'hub and spoke' infrastructure, with centralised production and an integrated supply chain for all outlets, with mass production efficiencies.

Printing.com now has 120 outlets, principally franchised and the company had a turnover of GBP 9m in the year to March 2004.

With its various franchise formats, Printing.com's aims are to accelerate its expansion across the UK and achieve its prime objective of becoming the UK's pre-eminent supplier of printing to SMEs.

The Entrepreneur of the Year awards now take place in 35 countries around the world with nearly 10,000 entrepreneurs competing at regional, national and international level and they are in their seventh year in the UK where the programme is co-sponsored by The Times, Coutts, and The London Stock Exchange.

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