13 September 2018

£1million investment in new digital facility marks 25 years in style at Macclesfield manufacturing firm

Plastic Card Services (PCS), one of the UKs leading manufacturers of plastic cards and associated services, celebrated 25 years in business this week by announcing the completion of a £1 million investment in a new digital production facility sited on its existing manufacturing campus within Tytherington Business Village.

Macclesfield MP, David Rutley was invited to officially ‘cut the ribbon’ on the new digital unit, with the event also being combined with a celebratory silver anniversary BBQ for staff.

Commenting on the importance of ambitious businesses to the local economy he said: “It was an honour to visit PCS to join the company’s 25th anniversary celebrations and learn about all that the team has achieved. They are a great example of how a company can grow UK-wide, and, indeed, internationally securing opportunities for the futures of local people. It is good to see how they have worked with landlords, Orbit, to expand their operations, yet stay in the Macclesfield area.”

It has been a successful partnership with commercial landlords Orbit Developments – and its management company Emerson – who have enabled PCS to expand organically since their move onto the site in 2000 leading up to the latest expansion.

PCS Managing Director Adam Unsworth said, “At PCS we always strive to be at the fore of the plastic card market, we knew the demand for shorter-run work was there from our existing customers and the investment in a digital facility was a natural next step for the firm.”

“In addition to selecting the very best in card production and finishing equipment, we ensured that each piece was compatible with our existing manufacturing lines, allowing us to double our overall output to 160 million cards per year, acting as a real step change for the business.”

To complement and enhance its digital offering, PCS has also created a web-to-print platform www.plasticcardhub.co.uk – a first for the market – which allows customers to price, design and upload artwork as well as buy cards online and receive them in just a few days. PCS provides cards in various formats including standard credit card style, card and integrated fob, 3 up fobs, hotel key cards, smart cards and RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) shielding cards, as well as associated card personalisation, artwork, data processing, mailing and fulfilment.

PCS which now employs 50 people, originally moved to Riverside within Orbit’s portfolio, relocated to Bank House in 1998, before finding their ideal space at Tytherington Business Village in 2000.

Benn Dickinson from Orbit Developments commented: “PCS were a customer of ours long before they relocated to Tytherington Business Village, and it has been a pleasure to be part of their success story. Over the years, we have worked with them to create an ideal workspace for them to realise their ambitions.”

Benn also commented on the recent changes at Tytherington Business Village:

“Over the past 12 months, we have invested a lot of resources into making Tytherington Business Village an enjoyable place for all of our customers and their employees to base themselves.  We’ve introduced monthly food trucks, fitness classes and customer feedback sessions to bring a vibrancy to the park.”

“Tytherington Business Village is uniquely placed in that it can satisfy most workspace requirements whether it be office, a HQ or warehousing requirement and we look forward to welcoming more growing businesses like PCS to Tytherington in the future.”

Pictured, left to right: Tim Holt, Co-owner of PCS, David Rutley, MP, Rob Nicholls Co-owner of PCS, Andy Simpson Operations Director and Adam Unsworth Managing Director of pCS