CHRISTMAS has come early for nine employees of a Gargrave business - and the Father Christmas figure is none other than their boss.

Business owner Jon Cawood has just spent £300,000 refurbishing and updating his Yorkshire Labels business off Eshton Road.

And the investment is providing plush office space as well as up-to-the-minute processing and printing equipment.

Printing self-adhesive labels might seem mundane to those not in the know, but it has turned into a thriving business for the 40-year-old who left school at 15, and whose success is down to his own enthusiasm, foresight and hard work.

He does, however, praise his staff, many of whom have been with him for a long time.

"The success is largely down to them. Without such a good workforce, things would not have gone as smoothly," he said.

The 10,000sq ft factory specialises in the design, creation and printing of all forms of self-adhesive food and packaging labels - the sort seen every day in our local supermarkets.

These can range from one colour to full colour, and some even have silver or gold foils.

The investment programme was instigated earlier in the year and has involved building new offices, an artwork and pre-press studio and a print room, and the acquisition and installation of a brand new state of the art full colour printing press.

A return for the workforce to double day shifts to keep up with demand has seen the turnover of the company nearly double.

Mr Cawood, a resident of Malham, has business interests in the leisure industry, worldwide distribution of manufacturing equipment and aviation.

He commented: "We now process orders almost twice as fast as before, and our turnover is growing between 10 and 15 per cent each month.

"The fact we are out in the Dales has meant our overheads remain low which we obviously pass on to all of our customers," he said.

As demand continues to increase, Mr Cawood is in the process of completing a deal on a further new press and the creation of even more new jobs should turn Yorkshire Labels into a major local employer.

This includes an idea to produce catalogues detailing the products the company produces.

With no monetary outlay at all, people - or "agents" as they may wish to be known - can apply to the company for a catalogue, and, after a period of training, would then obtain orders of their own.

"They wouldn't be employed by us, but would effectively work for themselves. All they would need to do is obtain the orders and receive a percentage of the sale without having to outlay any money of their own," explained Mr Cawood.

But success has not gone to his head, and to prove his appreciation for the Dales and the village of Malham in particular, he is in the throes of giving something back.

He recently purchased an overgrown wooded area in the centre of Malham which belonged to a former owner of the Buck Inn. He has been in talks with the national park authority and his intention is to clear it of all the debris and rubbish which has built up over the years and create an attractive walking, sitting and picnicking area for locals and visitors. The area should be finished by April.

"It's just something I want to do for the village," said Mr Cawood.