You’ll talk to Andy when you first get in touch. As the founder of Premier Design, he’s the initial point of contact and loves making both new and existing customers feel at ease when dealing with us ‘creative’ types! Andy’s head is always buzzing with ideas and solutions. He’ll chat with clients about what they want to achieve, and how to do this effectively and efficiently, without putting on any pressure.

Andy’s journey in design started at the tender age of 16 with a 3-year printing apprenticeship, and he fell in love with the career straight away. Working at a large local printing company in the late 80s and early 90s, he honed his knowledge and visual skills on old-school, traditional techniques before switching to computers as design and print technology advanced. Setting himself up as Premier Design was a make-or-break moment for him in 1995, and is still a work in progress nearly two and a half decades later!

Andy’s approach of managing projects from start to finish usually means problems are kept to a minimum – especially important with short lead times and tight deadlines. And the results are worth it. To him, nothing beats the moment when a client sees their job in print, smiles and says: ‘That’s just what I wanted.’

When not involved with all things design or spending time with family and friends, Andy loves to watch Essex play cricket, or play with Willow, the new office puppy. His biggest strength is his sense of humour – you often need one in this game!

You’ll talk to Sue when you owe us money and you’re desperate to get rid of the leg-breaking gangster types we’ve sent round to your door. They weren’t very nice. As our bookkeeper, accountant, credit controller and office manager rolled into one, Sue is a force to be reckoned with.

Sue’s previous experience with Al Capone served her well, but when forced to go to ground to avoid the wrath of several organised crime lords, she found a new identity when Andy was launching Premier Design. She demanded the nicest chair in the office, improved our cashflow tenfold and has been a permanent fixture ever since. We couldn’t actually ask her to leave if we wanted to. We’re not even sure if Sue is her real name.

Combining the latest online accounting software with medieval methods for extracting information, Sue has cultivated a unique approach to credit control and checking (and re-checking) every single, tiny, insignificant figure in our books. The most miniscule of errors results in a retribution so ferocious that even Genghis Khan would wet his pants. A contract with the Devil signed in your own blood carries less weight than a polite payment reminder from Sue.

When not embroiled with issuing paperwork, chasing payments and pulling teeth, Sue loves coffee, singing loudly in the car (sometimes with a willing participant), practicing voodoo and studying the dark arts. Oh, and she also likes spending time with her charming husband and two children.

Her biggest strengths in this job are her relentless organisational skills, a deep love of entering numbers in boxes and the ability to summon demons at will. Some of them have been quite helpful. If you cross her, you will fail.

Willow is the latest member of the Premier Design team, and also the hairiest! As a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, she’s got a great poker face, but her tail never fails to give the game away.

She is partial to treats – aren’t we all – but still can’t resist feathers, cardboard boxes, shoes and carpet, as well as picking up the pace with the odd “attack of the zoomies”. She’s also perfected the “what, me?” look, so you can’t stay angry with her for too long.

Willow brings a calming influence to the office, and a 20 minute walk is a great way to clear the mind and re-set the brain, so we can crack on with our design work without suffering from too much ‘designer’s block’.