The first APS Wellbeing Week

Last Tuesday marked World Mental Health Day, a time for awareness, education, and advocacy against social stigma. We wanted to find a way to support our colleagues around the globe that would allow them time to focus on self-care and self-expression.

After much planning, the very first APS Wellbeing Week was brought to life through a lineup of free activities and events. The response we had to the initiative has been fantastic, and we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part, shared their creations, and made the week a success!

The week started with sharing our motivational Spotify playlist, which compiled over an hour of songs to help uplift, soothe, and inspire your Monday morning. To listen again, scan the image below in your Spotify app or click here.

Spotify Wellbeing Week

On Monday, we also had the first of our two one hour free yoga sessions with Maria Kelly to help release any stress or tension throughout your body and encourage mindful breathing.

Next, we hosted a webinar with Marie-Clare from Sunflower Thinking, who creates hope through safe and positive mental health training. This session was based around mental health first aid and practical ways you can help to support those around you who may be struggling.

Also, throughout the week, fresh fruit hampers were delivered to our offices, and our Graphic Designer, Simon Rhodes, designed several colouring book pages so that staff could engage in a moment of mindfulness and calm.

Lastly, we also held a nature photo competition which was by far the most popular event of the week! There’s so much evidence to show that getting out in nature and being amongst green and blue spaces can positively impact both your mental and physical wellbeing, so we challenged our teams to get outside as much as possible and share the best image from their excursions! It’s safe to say, that not only do our colleagues live in some beautiful parts of the world, but they have a real talent for photography too! Take a look through the submissions below.

Congratulations to Ray Cane from our Cheadle production team who won the nature photo competition with the incredible image of a bumblebee on a sunflower featured at the top of this page.

Again, thank you to all who took part this week and made it a success!

APS expand secure print facility following significant client wins

Following significant wins in the financial and government sector, our growth continues with a £5 million investment in our cutting-edge print facility at Preston Brook, comprising an inbound and outbound centre for secure print and plastic card personalisation as well as a nationwide delivery and fulfilment centre. APS simultaneously installed a smart factory facility in a new unit next door, handling smaller runs of 3,000 packs and under.

Among the machinery added to our existing line-up is a new Ricoh colour VC60,000 and two brand new Fusion speed enclosers, capable of handling 30,000 packs an hour. An Eagle 40 inkjet spray device sprays mail marks envelopes directly at the mail sort stage, speeding up the downstream cycle time. APS are the only print company in the UK with this capability, underpinning recent contract wins.

APS Group Operations Director Stephen Goodall explains, “Having this smart factory facility next to our main centre of operations means that we truly can handle any job, no matter how large or how small. The larger site handles all our low-variety, high-volume work, while our new smart factory does exactly the opposite, covering high-variety, low-volume jobs.”

You can find out more about Preston Brook here

Partnering with the Crown Commercial Service to help schools print more sustainably!

Following significant wins in the financial and government sector, our growth continues with a £5 million investment in our cutting-edge print facility at Preston Brook, comprising an inbound and outbound centre for secure print and plastic card personalisation as well as a nationwide delivery and fulfilment centre. APS simultaneously installed a smart factory facility in a new unit next door, handling smaller runs of 3,000 packs and under.

Among the machinery added to our existing line-up is a new Ricoh colour VC60,000 and two brand new Fusion speed enclosers, capable of handling 30,000 packs an hour. An Eagle 40 inkjet spray device sprays mail marks envelopes directly at the mail sort stage, speeding up the downstream cycle time. APS are the only print company in the UK with this capability, underpinning recent contract wins.

APS Group Operations Director Stephen Goodall explains, “Having this smart factory facility next to our main centre of operations means that we truly can handle any job, no matter how large or how small. The larger site handles all our low-variety, high-volume work, while our new smart factory does exactly the opposite, covering high-variety, low-volume jobs.”

You can find out more about Preston Brook here

APS listed as the largest independent agency in Prolific North’s top 50! 

Leading media and creative publication; Prolific North and their research partner Mustard have revealed the latest top 50 integrated marketing agencies in the North of England for 2023 – and APS landed in the top 5 overall! We are delighted to be listed as the largest independent agency in this list.

Data for the rankings took a range of factors into account such as balance sheets, headcount, turnover, and pre-tax profits, confirmed using publicly available information from Companies House as well as directly from the companies listed. 

APS Marketing & Agency Director, James Lawton-Hill adds “We are thrilled to have ranked as the largest independent agency overall and would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped to make this happen, from our amazing team to our fantastic clients. Our ethos is built around our goal to make more possible for all the brands we work with but we certainly couldn’t have done this without the great team that work tirelessly day in day out across the business.”

You can find out more about the awards here.