The company was founded by Dick Nelson as Nelson Marketing inLogansport, Indiana in 1985.[9] It was acquired by Bemrose Corporation in 1996.[9] In 2000, Bemrose Corporation exited the paper products business[10] and changed its name to 4imprint Group plc.[9] Its North America division was renamed 4imprint Inc.[11]
In 2003, Hanover Investors, a private equity firm, purchased over 25% of 4imprint over the course of a month.[12] They led a shareholder rebellion, and shareholders called for the removal of all non-executive directors after talks between 4imprint and Hanover Investors broke down.[13]
4imprint established a distribution center inOshkosh, Wisconsin in 2009.[14] In 2012, it sold Kreyer Promotion Service GmbH and Brand Addition Limited to European affiliate companies ofH.I.G. Capital for £24 million.[15]
In November 2024, the company was identified as one of the best performing shares on the London Stock Exchange over the last decade having achieved a 16% increase in share price since 2023,[16] a 111% increase in share price since 2022,[17] and a 2,342% increase in share price since 2011.[18] However, the company expressed some caution about sales growth and said it would be slower in 2024 than in the previous year.[19][20]
In October 2024, the company completed the expansion of itsOshkosh operations. The 170,000 expansion brought the total size of the facility to 475,000-square-foot. The development involved 1,488 new solar panels and brought the total on the building to some 4,000 panels.[21] This was part of a programme to expand its North American headquarters in Oshkosh announced in 2015.[22][14] The State of Wisconsin, through itsWisconsin Economic Development Corporation, may have supported the company with state tax credits, dependent upon the number of jobs that were actually created through the expansion.[23] This large facility is home to some 50% of the total workforce.[24][25]
Although headquartered in London, 97% of 4imprint's business is in the United States and Canada.[26] In both 2023 and 2024, it was ranked the largest distributor by revenue in promotional products industry in North America.[27][8]
^Miller, Paul (February 2001)."4imprint Makes an Impression with Samples".Catalog Age. Vol. 18, no. 2. New York: Penton Media. p. 18. Retrieved9 May 2019 – viaEBSCO'sBusiness Source Complete.4imprint sends thousands of types of samples, Iott says, including pens, mouse pads, and travel cups - all imprinted or embossed with the 4imprint logo, phone number, and address.
$1,367.9 million (2024)[1]