What Warners Midlands does

Warners Midlands, legally Warners (Midlands) Plc and trading as Warners Printers, is a family-owned UK commercial printer founded in 1926 and headquartered at The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, Lincolnshire. The company specialises in short to medium print runs of magazines, catalogues, and brochures, serving publishers, marketers (including high street retailers), charitable and religious organisations, and specialist niche publishers. Operations are concentrated on a single fully equipped plant offering an end-to-end production stack that includes pre-press, web printing (continuous paper reels capable of 16 to 96 A4 pages per section), sheetfed printing (up to 16 A4 pages per sheet with perfecting), binding and finishing (perfect, PUR, and saddle stitch), in-house mailing via a Sitma polywrap and paper wrap line, and a Press Passing facility for on-site customer quality monitoring. A digital workflow is exposed through the Insite Portal, which handles secure PDF upload, preflight checks, and digital artwork approval, supported by closed-loop colour systems for consistency across presses and a live scheduling system for flexible date changes.

The business operates a B2B, consultative sales-led go-to-market model in which dedicated Key Account Managers handle each customer through phone, email, in-person meetings, and face-to-face or virtual onboarding. Pricing is fully quote-based and determined per job by quantity, paper weight and certification, printing method, binding type, finishing options, and mailing requirements, with quotes valid for three business days. Revenue streams include one-time printing services, transaction-based mailing and postage handling, and professional prepress services, with a complimentary Press Passing service offered to support colour and quality approval. The company holds ISO 9001 quality, ISO 14001 environmental, FSC, and PEFC certifications, sources paper exclusively from European mills (primarily Finland), and partners with the World Land Trust for carbon balancing. As of 2020, retained profits exceeded £23 million. Warners employs between 101 and 250 staff and remains controlled by the Warner family, with Philip Warner as Managing Director alongside Stephen, Jeannette, Michael, and Christopher Warner in director-level roles. Despite the Plc suffix, the company is not publicly listed.

Name

Warners Midlands

Legal name

Warners Midlands Plc

Website

https://www.warners.co.uk/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1926

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Warners Midlands is a printers and publications company engaged in magazine, brochure, catalogue, and web printing services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Books Printing (323117)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Finishing & Post-Press Services (Cutting, Folding, Collating, Laminating, Foil, Emboss) (MPAJALAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Subscription & Fulfillment Services (Print & Digital) (MPAJAKAB)

Keywords

• Commercial printing services
• Magazine printing
• Catalogue printing
• Brochure printing
• Web offset printing

Headquarters

HQ city

Bourne

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Printing Services: One-time printing services for magazines, catalogues, and brochures. Customers pay per print job based on quantity, paper type, binding method, and finishing options. Pricing is quote-based and project-specific.
2. Mailing Services: In-house mailing and distribution services including polywrap/paper wrapping, address ink-jetting, and postage. Charged as add-on to printing services based on quantity and packaging type.
3. Prepress Services: Artwork processing, preflight checks, plate making, and quality control services included as part of printing package or charged separately for custom work.
4. Press Pass Services: Customer on-site press monitoring service offered free of charge for quality assurance and colour approval during printing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Warners Midlands is a family-owned specialist printer providing magazine, catalogue and brochure printing services from a single production facility in Bourne, Lincolnshire. The company offers a complete in-house print production chain covering pre-press, web and sheetfed printing, binding and finishing, and mailing/distribution, focused on short to medium print runs for UK publishers, marketers, retailers, charitable groups and specialist organisations.

Product overview

Warners Midlands is a family-owned specialist printer offering a comprehensive print production service for magazines, catalogues, and brochures. The core product portfolio centers on three main print categories—magazine, catalogue, and brochure printing—supported by integrated production services including Pre Press, Web Printing, Sheet Fed Printing, Binding and Finishing, and Publishing Services. The company also provides in-house Mailing Services for distribution and an Insite Portal for file management. All services are delivered from their single site in Bourne, Lincolnshire, with a focus on short to medium print runs for publishers, marketers, and charitable organisations. The offering is structured as a single unified service rather than a modular platform, with all capabilities available in-house to provide end-to-end production from design consultation through to mailing and distribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 9.4/10 overall service score from customer survey with over 200 responses
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Royal MailcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoyal Mail is used as the primary postal service for mailing operations. Warners works with Royal Mail and downstream access companies for distribution of printed materials to end recipients.
• Downstream Access CompaniesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialist sorting companies that handle Royal Mail integration and may offer discounted postage rates for bulk mailings.
• Paper Mills (Europe)coreOthersWarners sources all paper from European mills, primarily Finland. Long-term relationships with key suppliers vetted for quality, environmental responsibility, reliable service, and competitive pricing. Mills visited to verify environmental management systems.
• HolmenminorOthersPaper mill referenced for sustainability content and guidance on choosing between virgin and recycled paper stocks.
• SappiminorOthersPaper supplier referenced for marketing research on print effectiveness, including statistics showing 38% of recipients acted to buy as a result of receiving direct mail.
• World Land TrustminorOthersCarbon balancing organisation through which customers can carbon balance papers for environmental impact mitigation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Walstead Group: Parent of Wyndeham, the largest UK magazine and catalogue web-offset printer; serves many of the same periodical publishing customers as Warners at higher run lengths, representing the dominant incumbent in the segment Warners operates in.

Direct peers

• Micropress: Beccles-based UK web-offset magazine and commercial printer specializing in short to medium runs — directly overlapping Warners' core offering of magazines, catalogues and brochures for UK publishers.
• Pureprint Group: UK commercial printing group offering magazine, brochure and catalogue production with integrated finishing; serves a similar publisher and brand customer base as Warners with comparable scale.
• Stephens & George: Welsh-based magazine and commercial web printer established over a century ago, focused on periodical and catalogue production for UK publishers — a direct competitor in short-to-medium run magazine printing.
• Harmsworth Printing: UK commercial printer (part of DMGT) producing magazines, catalogues and supplements for newspaper and magazine publishers; competes with Warners for periodical print contracts at comparable run lengths.
• Bishops Printers (BPC): UK-wide commercial printing business offering magazine, catalogue and brochure production with in-house binding and finishing; targets a similar publisher and retail marketing customer mix as Warners.
• Pensord Press: South Wales-based commercial printer producing magazines, catalogues, books and brochures with web and sheetfed capability; directly comparable service mix and UK customer base to Warners.
• CMP Group: UK printing group providing magazines, catalogues and commercial print across multiple sites; comparable offering in periodical and brochure production for similar publishing and marketing customers.
• Taylor Bloxham: Midlands-based commercial printer with strong magazine, brochure and catalogue capability; comparable scale, geography (relatively near Warners' Lincolnshire base) and product mix.
• Gemini Print Group: UK-wide magazine, brochure and catalogue printing group with in-house binding and finishing; competes with Warners for the same publisher and direct-marketing customers across short and medium run lengths.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/warnersprinters
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@WarnersMidlands
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/warners-midlands-plc
• Instagraminstagram.com/warners_printers

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Warners Midlands