Essie Hans, general manager and vice-president of Pronto Print Limited, and staff are delighted with their new location on the ground floor of Crown House, 4 Par-la-Ville Road, Hamilton. Formerly, they were located on Victoria Street.

You can smell the newness of the building the moment you walk into their bright office, on your right as you enter the building, open from 8:30 a.m.

until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Pronto Print Limited commenced publishing in 1974 and started out as a very small company who specialised basically in making Xerox photo copies for small businesses and individuals.

"Back then Xerox was a big name in photo copying and very few businesses could afford to buy one. Someone would do a report and they would come to us for 24 copies of it.

"We were extremely small -me, a press technician and a secretary. We bought a box of paper as we needed it,'' explained Mrs. Hans with a laugh.

Today they house about 600 to 700 square feet of paper in house and as commercial printers are a medium size company.

Mrs. Hans related how she became involved with the business: "My son was about four years old and a friend told me about this small print shop.

"I had the interview, accepted a job doing bookkeeping and two years later I was the manager; in seven years we had seven employees. Today we employ 10 full time and two part time staff.'' Although they were a small operation they marketed themselves well in the 1980s and the original partners sold their interests in 1997.

On July 17, 1997 Bermuda Press Holdings Ltd. partnered with Mrs. Hans who has been in the industry for 23 years and has held the position of general manager for the past 19 Years.

You might say that Mrs. Hans has ink in her veins as she is so connected to her work and her staff. She is the perfect example of a `hands-on' manager.

"My staff are wonderful people who are extremely dedicated to doing their best. I depend on them and so do our very valued customers,'' she said.

As a boss Mrs. Hans describes herself as someone who is fair to the employees and describes her management style as that of `an open book'. Her team leaders are active in company decisions.

"My team leaders are key employees who have earned the right to leadership. I try to get my staff involved. People are part of what is going on here.'' Every day the staff at Pronto Print meet demanding challenges.

"Delivering orders yesterday when placed today proves to be a major daily task. Being called `Pronto' in itself sets up a high expectation and we deliver quality work done at the speed of lightning,'' Mrs. Hans said.

When Mrs. Hans was a teenager she worked at Baxter's Book Store for Mrs.

Margaret Baxter who was a role model for her.

"I left Mrs. Baxter to work at an exempt company when I was 18 years old. I learned that being a good manager meant being organised, focused and being on time. Mrs. Baxter was a great inspiration to me,'' Mrs. Hans said.

Pronto Print Ltd. is ready to help its customers with their printing needs from photo copies, stationery, business cards, announcements, graphic design, consulting, newsletters and glossy brochures.

Their motto is "the recipe for good printing'' and the experienced Mrs. Hans and her talented staff provide fast and accurate service.

Give them a call at 295-0183, fax at 296-2329, or e-mail: www.prontoprint.bm