Adam James, co-managing director of CS Labels (part of Asteria), will take on the new role of managing director at Bar Graphic Machinery (BGM). Duplo recently announced the acquisition of BGM.

Peter Jolly, CIO at Duplo International and a company director of BGM, comments, “We are absolutely delighted to secure the services of Adam as our new managing director at BGM. Adam’s extensive experience in the labels and flexible packaging industry, combined with his history of helping to guide a company through an acquisition, made him a standout candidate. As a former buyer of labels equipment, Adam will give BGM a unique perspective on the market requirements and help support product development with our brilliant BGM design team.”

James will work alongside founders Bill and Annemarie Rhodes, who will stay in the business as it transitions under the new ownership of Duplo. He will report into a group of Duplo International BGM Directors, who will support James as he drives the BGM business plan, much like his role at CS reporting into the Asteria Group.

Joining BGM

James adds, “Joining BGM as managing director after Duplo’s purchase is very exciting. As with my experience of being an end user and managing a label company, I have a great insight into to what converters require. I have been in the labels/packaging industry for over 25 years. It’s the staff that make a business and the team here at BGM are excellent, producing some very well engineered machines over the years under Bill and Annemarie. We are small enough to listen and big enough to produce in good volumes. Moving forward we have some great product ideas in the pipeline, designed to benefit both operators and businesses alike. ”

James’ career history includes starting at Amberley Labels in Blandford, Dorset, in 2000 as stores and dispatch. Then James moved to the shop floor, including running the Mark Andy 4200 label press, eventually moving up to the role of production manager. 

In 2009 he moved to CS Labels in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, as production manager, then operations director, and since Asteria purchased the company in 2021, has been joint-managing director.