CCL Secure Vice President and Managing Director, Neil Sanders sat down to discuss the importance of innovation, experience and expertise. He reflects on the changes he's seen over 25 years in the banknote industry, and looks forward to a stronger, safer, cleaner and greener future for cash.
Where did you begin your career, and what led you to working with polymer substrate?
I’m from the United Kingdom and went to university there, so when I graduated in 1998, I got a job with the Bank of England (BoE) as a print works chemist. My role involved manufacturing inks from scratch and it was during this time I first encountered polymer substrate. I was tasked with co-ordinating some testing that Note Printing Australia (NPA) wanted to undertake on the first NotaProtector machine, which was installed at the Bank of England Printing Works in Debden. Of course, at that time the BoE was still using cotton-paper substrate, like most countries were.
I remember the concept of polymer seemed strange to me at first. I had visions of Australians jumping into the ocean and going for a surf with banknotes in their board shorts! However, I quickly came to see the advantages of polymer, including the third dimension that comes into play when you introduce windows and embedded security features into the mix. I knew it was a technology with immense potential and one that I wanted to work with.
Fortunately, that’s exactly where my journey took me. After a short stint with a commercial printer, I took what turned out to be a lifechanging decision and moved to the other side of the world. In 2005, I joined NPA, where I stayed for 12 years. During that time, I had a range of roles, starting as a production shift manager and ending as head of technical services. I think that breadth of experience has been really important.
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The full article can be viewed in Specimen Magazine — Issue 12.
