When Nigel completed his engineering apprenticeship in the late 70s, the job market was difficult to say the least. Whilst he did successfully land a job, he admitted that the gruelling shift pattern did nothing to support the social life that most 21-year-olds seek! He confided in his friend, and former apprentice buddy, Dermot Cassidy, who had joined Piroto as a label printer some years before. It was Dermot who encouraged Nigel to apply for a role as a printer that had become available at Piroto Labelling.
Nigel remembers his interview with the then Piroto Labelling MD, Alastair Inglis. ‘It was a Saturday morning, so I dropped mum off at Tesco to do her shopping and went on to Piroto,’ Nigel says. ‘Two hours later, mum was wondering where I was!’ he laughs. Needless to say, Nigel got on well with Alastair and, after a second meeting and introduction to the gravure printing presses, he got the job.
Piroto was a small, family-run business at that time, and the role suited Nigel well. As the company grew, the gravure presses were replaced by state-of-the-art flexographic label printing presses. Nigel’s skills grew alongside Piroto’s labelling printing capabilities. Then, and now, Piroto prides itself on being a great company to work for. Nigel remembers fondly that the family-friendly single shift pattern meant that he could regularly pick his young children up from school. Perhaps that’s why Nigel celebrated an impressive 41 years at Piroto in November 2025!
Looking back over his career at Piroto, Nigel has some great stories to tell. He has seen Piroto grow dramatically over the last 40 years, though it is still family owned and run on the principles of giving customers the labels they need, when they need them, as well as fostering a supportive workplace. Nigel said, ‘In the early days, machine break downs were a regular occurrence. It was not unusual to see flames and smoke pouring out of a press; we thought nothing of it!’. He added, ‘Today’s modern flexographic labelling printing presses are, thankfully, ultra reliable and health and safety is a number one priority on the production floor’.
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