10/08/2026
Fineprint’s 40th Anniversary
Fineprint is celebrating 40 years in business, having been established in 1986.
We are very proud to have reached this milestone.
Over the next few weeks there will be a few messages, along with some of those embarrassing photos of our younger selves and very suspect fashion choices! But my first special mention has without doubt got to go to the two co-founders, Andy Rajchel & Phil Nicol.
The former is my dad, so I know first-hand the sacrifices he made, and the hours spent away from home working late into the night. Their ambition, drive and vision to build the company up in those early days is something that still has me in awe of them both.
I started working at Fineprint in 1993 straight from school, and already in those 7 years since they established, they had built it up from a city centre basement premises with a couple of old second hand Litho presses, into a business that was thriving and had a very strong name within the trade.
It was a partnership that complemented each other’s strengths very well.
Phil was a fantastic people person, he mixed calmness, confidence, humour and genuine care for our clients, leading to many of his customers becoming long standing friends.
Andy on the production side set very high standards and had a drive to make things run as efficiently as possible, which we still all try to follow to this day. His work ethic and ambition to always improve along with his boldness to make that next investment, is something that massively helped Fineprint move forward.
You cannot teach what both had, you can only watch and learn and hope you can take it in.
Phil retired from the business over 10 years ago and I realise I have not spoken to him nearly as much as I would have liked. I need to speak to him more because you always come out of a chat with Phil feeling better about things.
As for my dad Andy, even though he took a back step 15 years ago from the day to day running of the business, he still amazes me, at the age of 76, the enthusiasm and love he still has for Fineprint and the active role he still plays in helping in production at its busiest times.
If you have experienced working with parents in a family run business, you can understand the major challenges it can bring; however, I wouldn’t change it for the world, and it has ultimately created a bond between us that is hard to describe.
Neither my Dad and Phil are in the best of health at the minute, which makes you realise the preciousness of our time working together and how it can all change overnight.
We wish them both a speedy recovery.
Massive thank you to both of them, all the blood, sweat and tears along the way, but the many, many laughs that will stick with me forever.
