make custom formatting permanent

I have a column in which I have custom formated about 50 cells to add
prefixes, a name such as <"Developer -"@ > Developer-Peter instead of just
Peter, Accountant-John instead of John. Now I want to make this custom
formating permanent. I have tried using paste-special and pasted it to a
different cell but unfortunately the custom formating remains and all what
is copied is the original cell data that is just Peter or John instead of
custom prefixes.

Any idea on how to make the custom formating static in the same cell or a
different cell??

Thanks in advance
Simha

"Developer -"&cell ref