Bought in February 2017, Instaprint continued to operate out of 186sqm Nottingham premises post-acquisition. From the new year, its team of five will move into parent John E Wright’s main Blue Print House bureau, also in Nottingham. Both brands will have their names over the door, according to commercial and marketing manager Adrian Nicholls.
The Iridesse – among the first of the production systems to be installed in the UK – was delivered to the main base on 4 December and was fully commissioned by 6 December. It will be utilised for a wide array of existing work, while John E Wright will push its speciality print capabilities, experimenting with variable data and metallic inks.
Nicholls said: “We were aware of the Iridesse before seeing it at The Print Show. We have a long history with Xerox devices and it’s really a showstopper of a device. The speed and quality of the basic four colour print would have sold it, but the silver, gold and clear options made it a must-have.
“We produce a lot of tender documents for our AEC clients. These are often prestigious projects and being able to add the ‘wow’ factor to short run printed materials, whether that be report covers or even tabbed dividers, will help the projects stick in the readers mind. The capability is only really limited by your imagination.”
He added: “The merge [with Instaprint] went really well from the start. The Instaprint team were very professional and we had no desire to make any significant changes. The consolidation to one site was probably inevitable but external factors brought it forward a little.”
Running alongside two more Xerox machines – a Versant 2100 and a Versant 80 – the Iridesse will carry out work focused on both entities’ general throughput, including adding new services to the small-format B2B and B2C offerings on Instaprint’s website.
Supplied to John E Wright by Zerographics, the Xerox Iridesse was first launched for Europe and the US in May and was first installed in the UK at fellow Nottingham operation Hickling & Squires, followed by a double-buy from Hobs Repro – who put one of the six-colour machines each in its London and Glasgow bases.
Taking a maximum sheet size of 330x488mm, the Iridesse can print at speeds up to 120ppm for A4 and 60ppm for sizes A3-SRA3. It can take stock weighing anywhere between 52 and 400gsm and print at “ultra HD resolution” of 2,400dpi. It makes use of Xerox’s High Definition Emulsion Aggregate (HD EA) toner designed to have the “optimal particle size” for lower gloss, smooth tints and fine detail.
In October, Xerox expanded the machine's capabilities to offer extra-long sheet capability up to 330x1,200mm banner – a capability Nicholls said John E Wright would adopt in due course – and auto-duplex up to 729mm long, as well as the introduction of white to its speciality inks.
With the Iridesse, a new Mohr 66 guillotine and a bout of refurbishment at Blue Print House, the full consolidation represents an investment just shy of £300,000 for John E Wright.
With additional branches in Derby, Leicester, Oxford and Hull, John E Wright employs a total of 85 members of staff. Itself specialising in large-format, signage and exhibition systems, the full group turns over £6m – with £500,000 made up by Instaprint.
