中文Industrial labelling specialist Customark has completed a double acquisition that will reshape its manufacturing footprint, buying both BSP Labels and Screens & Graphics and folding their operations into a single, purpose-built production hub in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire.
The deals were concluded in July and bring an estimated 16 employees into the Customark fold, together with around £1.2m of additional projected annual revenue. BSP Labels, a bespoke self-adhesive labels manufacturer, was acquired out of administration along with its assets and goodwill, while Screens & Graphics — a long-established screen printer — was bought outright, including its entire share capital.
The combined businesses, alongside Customark’s existing facility at Royston, will be merged into one unified production site. The new building spans 1,110 square metres and sits at Swavesey, a short distance from Cambridge. Screens & Graphics, currently based in nearby Cottenham, will relocate six miles to the new site, with the move scheduled for completion by the end of December. BSP Labels, previously in Royston, will move its manufacturing to Customark’s Bicester site — formerly the Goldcrest Adhesive Products plant — while its administration and sales teams transfer to Swavesey by the end of October and the brand is reabsorbed under the Customark name.
Greg Lerigo, Customark’s director and owner, said the acquisitions deepen two complementary sides of the business. “Forty percent of our business is industrial graphics products and the acquisition of Screen and Graphics further develops our market position in this sector,” he noted. Screens & Graphics has traded for more than 40 years, supplying the scientific, aerospace, medical and audio sectors with 11 staff and revenues of around £750,000. Its purchase formed part of the exiting owner’s retirement planning.
On the labelling side, BSP Labels strengthens Customark’s core franchise. “The remaining 60% of our business is industrial labelling products and the acquisition of the assets and goodwill of BSP Labels further cements our market position in this area,” Lerigo said. BSP contributes five staff and a further £750,000 of revenue.
BSP had been placed into administration after struggling with the combined effects of Brexit, Covid-19, rising costs and the loss of a long-term employee. Simon Lowes and Stephen Powell of insolvency practice BTG Begbies Traynor were appointed joint administrators on 24 June and ran a pre-packaged sale that secured all jobs. “After a pre-packaged sales process the best offer came from Customark, which has secured the future of all employees as part of the deal,” Lowes said.
The transactions extend a well-established acquisition streak for Customark, which has bought label company Goldcrest and Prisym ID’s consumables division, as well as Charnwood Label Craft and sister companies Kingsbury Screens and Industrial Screen Print, all in 2024. Founded in 1968, Customark now runs six UK manufacturing sites with a head office in Stourbridge, roughly £12m in turnover and around 120 employees.
The deal also reflects a wider structural trend in the UK printing and labelling sector, where mid-sized specialists are consolidating to build broader capability under a single roof. For Customark, the formula has been consistent: acquire businesses with complementary technical strengths, retain their people, and fold them into a growing national footprint. The addition of Screens & Graphics deepens Customark’s position in industrial graphics, while BSP Labels strengthens its core labelling franchise at a moment when supply-chain resilience and local manufacturing are back in fashion with procurement teams.
Lerigo was clear that culture and continuity matter as much as the balance sheet. Both acquired teams keep their identities in the near term, and the rebranding of BSP is staged rather than abrupt, a deliberate choice to protect customer relationships built over decades. For the 16 incoming employees, the transaction converts uncertainty — BSP had been in administration — into stability, with roles redeployed, retrained and relocated rather than cut.
Looking ahead, Customark’s six-site network and roughly £12m turnover give it the scale to invest in unified production, centralised administration and cross-selling across labelling and industrial graphics. Whether the Swavesey hub becomes a template for further consolidation remains to be seen, but the message from management is unambiguous: growth by acquisition is far from finished.
The rescue of BSP Labels also carries a wider lesson about the fragility of small UK manufacturers. A business with 50 years of heritage and a skilled workforce was brought down not by a lack of capability but by external shocks – the twin dislocations of Brexit and the pandemic, compounded by cost inflation and the departure of an experienced employee. That a trade buyer could step in and preserve every job is a comparatively happy ending in a segment where administration too often ends in liquidation and redundancy.
For Customark’s customers, the practical benefits are concrete. A broader technical base means a single supplier can now handle industrial graphics, screen printing and self-adhesive labels that previously required multiple vendors. Centralised administration at Swavesey should sharpen quoting, scheduling and account management, while the Bicester label site adds manufacturing redundancy. In a market where lead times and supply assurance have become selling points in their own right, that integrated footprint is a competitive asset.
Lerigo’s track record suggests this will not be the last deal. Customark has shown a disciplined appetite for acquiring businesses at attractive valuations and integrating them without disrupting the underlying craft. If the Swavesey hub performs as planned, it may well become the template for the next phase of consolidation as the UK’s labelling and industrial-printing landscape continues to concentrate around a handful of ambitious regional players.
Source: https://www.printweek.com/content/news/customark-in-dual-acquisition-with-production-hub-relocation
