The company made the move from 11 Aintree Road, Perivale to its new 697sqm premises at Unit C, ATA House, Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead last month.
The new premises includes a spare parts and technical support centre and will incorporate a custom-built showroom and demonstration suite, which is scheduled for completion in the next six to eight weeks and should be fully operational before the end of the year.
“Our lease had expired at Perivale and we took that opportunity to move into some more modern premises and have an easier location for our customers to get to,” said joint managing director Bryan Godwyn.
Hemel Hempstead has become a prime location for companies in the print industry in recent years. Apex Digital Graphics, Colourbyte, FFEI and MGI are also located in the area, which is close to the M1 motorway and has easy access to Luton, Heathrow and Stansted airports as well as strong rail links to the Midlands and North of England.
“The Perivale premises served us fantastically over the years, but it was an old building and we wanted to have a place where we could build our own showroom and technical centre,” said Godwyn.
“It’s probably half the size of our old premises but most of that was wasted warehouse and office space, so in terms of useful space it’s probably a lot better.
“We exchanged contracts on the new lease in mid September and got access to the building very soon after that. We’ve already moved all of our office staff in and all of our spares have been transferred.”
IFS is the exclusive UK agent for Horizon post-press equipment and also offers systems from suppliers including Tecnau/Lasermax, Perfecta, Foliant, Petratto, Durselen, SCS and Italdibipack.
A core event partner at Print Efficiently 2014, IFS has also sold the UK's first Horizon AF-406T6F fully automated pharmaceutical folder on the first day of the event.
Hertfordshire-based book printer Berforts Information Press, which bought the machine, will use it to handle its pharmaceutical work, which it is currently outsourcing.
IFS also sold a Foliant Vega 400A B3+ compact thermal laminator with jogger 400 delivery on the event's opening day. The machine was bought by a commerical printer based in Southend-on-Sea.
Also at the event, Hereford-based commercial printer ABC Print Group signed for a Ryobi 924 SRA1 press with LED-UV drying from Apex Digital Graphics on the opening day of the event, which marked Apex's first UK sale of an LED-UV press.
“The first week of Print Efficiently has been fantastic. Registrations were up on the last two years and it’s been a great opportunity to interact with customers,” said Godwyn.
“We’ve got a break next week for customers to come in for specific demonstrations and then we’ll be back the following week. We’ve still got registrations for the second week being added now.”
The second week of Print Efficiently 2014 will take place from October 21-23 at Apex Digital Graphics’ showroom in Hemel Hempstead.
