Precision Proco Group purchases Photobox production facility in West London

PRECISION Proco Group has purchased the West London production facility of Photobox, according to a company statement. The company completed the deal on the Willen Field Road facility on Aug. 1, 2021, and as part of the transaction, the affiliated Photobox employees will transfer to Precision Proco Group. Terms weren’t disclosed. The deal only involves the purchase of the UK production facility and does not involve any other aspect of Photobox’s business.

“Having worked with the team at Photobox over a number of years we are delighted to bring the U.K. production facility into the Precision Proco Group family,” said Gary Peeling, CEO, Precision Pro Group.  “Combining their expertise and people with our workflow automation will enable us to further develop our smarter utilization strategy across production sites throughout the U.K.

“We believe this will benefit customers across the group, as we maximise capacity across the network, streamline production processes and continue to bring innovative products and services to market.”

“We are pleased to have concluded the transfer of Willen Field Road to our long-standing partner Precision Proco Group,” said Gordon Brophy, chief manufacturing officer, Photobox. “As we continue to focus on delivering the highest quality products to our customers at market leading speed – we value this new partnership with PPG that we are confident will leverage strengths and skills of the production team on-site with Precision Proco Group’s technology and their ethos, and will create a positive future for our business in the UK.”

According to a LinkedIn post by Jeremy Wills, senior analyst, Pro Displays & Imaging, at Futuresource Consulting, the Precision Pro Group deal may be a harbinger of similar deals, as vertically integrated brands may look to shed their own costly production facilities to focus on the customer-facing aspect of the business:

“The last six to seven years have seen the rise of ‘fleet of foot’, front-end, AI-focussed photo apps, with low overheads (all printing outsourced and, often, an intermediary between them and the white label Print Service Provider (PSP) to avoid the cost of in-house production staff),” writes Wills. “These apps play into the hands of the existing white label Photo PSPs but are also generating work for PSPs that have not been Photo category players, but that have the equipment and capability to print and distribute personalized photo products.”