A Tall order - but group chief plans to double turnover

Jan 23 2008 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

Tony McDonough meets MARTIN RUDA, managing director of the Runcorn-based Tall Group

RUMOURS of the imminent death of the cheque are greatly exaggerated, according to Martin Ruda. And if anyone would know, he would.

Ruda is managing director of the Runcorn-based Tall Group, a business whose core activity has been, and continues to be, the printing of business cheques and credit slips.

One of their claims to fame is that the cheques waved by Chris Tarrant on the TV quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, are printed by them.

However, cheque usage in the UK peaked in 1996 and so companies like Tall have had to diversify and seek new markets.

This is something Tall has clearly managed successfully, as its turnover for 2007 has gone through the £10m barrier, with an ambition to double that in two years.

The group comprises two divisions – Tall Security Print, in Runcorn; and Checkprint, in Hinckley, Leicestershire – with the headquarters at the Cheshire site.

“The Runcorn business was started from scratch in 1991,” said Ruda.

“At that time, the banking industry was looking for further supply opportunities for cheque products and credit slips.

“At that time, the use of cheques was still growing. But it peaked in 1996, and although the firm was cushioned slightly by the fact that the decline in the use of business cheques was less rapid than that of personal ones, it was still vital to develop new systems and services.”

While cheques are still an important part of Tall’s operation, it has successfully diversified to offer other products and services. It recently printed 15m ballot papers for the Nigerian elections.

Ruda added: “We have developed our own software applications to facilitate electronic transactions – we have always had a strong IT element to what we do.

“We have recognised how important it is to develop the skills that allow us to come up with new products and services. That has been key to our transition.

“We are also now exporting to other parts of the world where the use of cheques is still actually growing.

“This is particularly true in parts of Africa where poor telephone infrastructure means electronic transactions are very difficult to carry out.”

Tall Group’s efforts to become an international player in the past couple of years has been recognised with a Queens Award for Enterprise.

However, Ruda insists that even in the UK, the days of the cheque are not quite numbered.

“While we recognise the reality of the decline of the use of cheques, there are still a large number of small firms out there who still prefer to use them,” he said. “For many business people, electronic banking is still not their cup of tea.

“We operate in a very tough market. The average profit margin of the top 500 printing companies in the UK is around 1.5%. We achieve double that in terms of our margin.”