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 Freedecor
is owned and operated by
Colin
van der Pauw, based on the Wirral.
He has
been producing business print for over 10 years. He began with
retail high street ‘fast print and copy shops’ offering a wide
range of business design, print and copy products through
shops in and around Liverpool city centre. Initially most of the
production was in house, but over time, the range of products
widened considerably and a network of specialist
printers/manufacturers developed until eventually most of what was
sold was produced by third parties.
In 1999
he shut down the retail and manufacturing operations to concentrate
exclusively on third party sourcing, or ‘broking’ – sometimes
‘renting’ space on his own original equipment which he had sold to
his network of producers - but with the increased flexibility that
the wider network offered.
Since
changing to broking, he has been able to concentrate much more of
his time on his customers, listening to their needs and continually
expanding and improving his network of products and
suppliers. The change has been very successful, with business
growing steadily – most of the growth based on word of mouth /
network marketing and personal recommendation.
Before that
Colin
spent over 20 years working for blue-chip multinational companies
in the chemical industry (Shell & Union Camp). His CV describes
him as:
"A
multi-lingual General Manager with international,
business-to-business experience of speciality and commodity
products in a variety of industrial sectors. Proven ability in
responsible positions in General Management, Business
Development, Research, Sales and Marketing with major US and
European manufacturing corporations. Computer literate with
extensive experience of PC based business
applications."
It’s
this experience which many of his customers have come to rely on
through his sound, business-oriented advice covering the whole
field of market-focussed print.
Now
Colin
lives in Frankby on the Wirral with his wife Claire who helps with
the admin of the business and is a qualified French
teacher.
When not
at his desk or out and about on business, Colin enjoys his tennis,
walking in the hills, spending time with their 3 grown-up children
and foreign travel.
His
ambition is eventually to retire to the Spanish sunshine “soon
please, before the wine runs out”, he says.
Something
few people know about him (until now!) – he has twice appeared on
stage as a ‘rock & rolling jiver’ in local amateur productions
of the ‘Elvis Story’!
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