Propack founder and CEO Neil Lloyd has retired from the business, which has been purchased in a management buyout by managing director Jason Clough.

The Huddersfield, West Yorkshire-based direct mail specialist told Printweek the deal was completed three weeks ago, at which point Lloyd left the business and stepped down from his position as CEO. Having bought 100% of its shareholding, Clough has now taken full control of the business.

Lloyd founded Propack Direct Mail over 28 years ago, building the company from the ground up to become a significant player in the direct marketing industry that currently turns over £9.5m and employs 66 staff.

Under his leadership, Propack has grown to serve a wide range of clients, including Tui, Travis Perkins, and Mercedes-Benz, providing a raft of services from creative design to printing, mailing, and fulfilment.

“It has been an incredible journey, building this business from scratch and watching it grow over the years,” said Lloyd.

“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, and I am excited to see what the future holds for Propack under Jason’s ownership.”

The deal was in the works for “several months” and was approved by all relevant parties.

“We are confident that Jason has the vision, drive and expertise to lead Propack to even greater success in the future. I wish him and the whole team all the best for the future,” Lloyd added.

Clough has been with Propack since 2006, working his way up through the ranks to become managing director. He has been instrumental in driving the company’s growth and success in recent years.

Clough commented: “I am honoured and humbled to be taking on this role, and I am committed to continuing the success that Neil has built at Propack. We have a fantastic team in place, and we are committed to helping our clients communicate effectively and increase their revenue.” 

Propack recently won a two-year, “six-figure” contract with charity Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). This followed a trio of other new client wins in the charity sector, while late last year it also won a tender to provide four years of outsourced sponsorship activity for children’s charity Plan International UK (PIUK).

Additionally, the company has just launched its own online sustainable greetings cards retail business, Planet Bee Cards, and last year topped off investment of over £2.7m into new technology and equipment for its site with its biggest purchase yet, a Canon VarioPrint iX3200 cutsheet inkjet printer.

Founded in 1995, Propack’s customer base covers both B2C and B2B. It produces 25 million mail packs a year from its 2,787sqm site.