Between now and the end of May, the company will move its operations six miles across from its current leased building to the site of The Press in Enfield, which MPC acquired last year and is now expanding structurally and internally.
The expanded and consolidated factory will give the business 3,159sqm space, up from a previous combined total of 2,508sqm between the two previous units.
The additional space will enable the business to take on a range of new machinery, including a fully refurbished secondhand 18,000sph Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 with Inpress Control. The press has been bought direct from Heidelberg and will be installed at the end of this month.
Other machinery set to arrive at the new unit over the next three months will include a Norpak flow-wrapper, a Neopost envelope inserter and an HP Indigo 5600, which has replaced the firm’s existing Indigo 5500.
The 5600 has white ink and has been specially adapted to run up to 600-micron folding boxboard and PVC.
A Screen platesetter, which will be run through an Agfa Apogee workflow, will also be installed and integrated with a Tharstern MIS.
MPC managing director Tony Crook said: “We’ve made this investment to meet the demands of our customers.
“We’ve expanded our customer base quite considerably since taking on The Press and found that by having the ability between the two companies, we’ve been able to expand both trade long-run litho printing and fast-reaction short-run B2 printing.”
He added: “We’ve always had the intention to merge the two sites together. The other site is only six miles away so it makes sense that we’re all under one roof from a logistical point of view.
“All of our staff are coming with us and everybody is quite excited about the move. It will also create job opportunities for new staff.”
MPC also runs three other Heidelberg Speedmaster presses - a B1 12-colour SM 102 with Cutstar, a B2 five-colour-plus-coater SM XL 75 and a two-colour SM 52 - as well as finishing kit including laminators, PUR and hotmelt binders and stitching lines.
The firm has more than 50 staff and a turnover of around £6.5m. It predominantly serves trade printers, designers and print management companies.
