"When I got into the industry, printing was a well-paid job", says Kingfisher joint managing director Paul Tomlin. That was in 1983, the year that Microsoft Word was first released and the commercial for the very first Apple Macintosh computer was aired in America, so evidently quite a few things have changed since then. "Over time other industries have caught up and overtaken," adds fellow joint managing director Jon Doidge, who became the company's first employee, shortly after it was founded in 1991.

It is a good thing then, that Tomlin didn't base his decision to found Bury St Edmunds-based Kingfisher on the promise of future riches. "Back then, it was purely the desire to work for oneself," he explains. Still, even if the golden age of the ‘lifestyle' printer was soon to pass, there was still money to be made for the innovative, efficient few, such as Kingfisher, that made a habit of running an "extremely tight ship".

However, while the company has always prided itself on its efficiency, innovation has only recently joined its lexicon. "We didn't switch to CTP until 2005," says Tomlin. "When we did, it was like a quantum leap forward. We should have put in earlier, but there was a lack of realisation of the benefit."

No half measures
Having made the decision to switch to CTP, Kingfisher didn't scrimp in half measures. The company, which at the time was "your classic B2 SME general commercial printer", bought the first fully automated Luxel V6 platesetter worldwide, opting immediately for a configuration that included a casette loader and auto stacker. The platesetter, plus Fuji's Rampage RIP, took the company to another level in terms of productivity. However, it was almost three years before Kingfisher's evolution took on a revolutionary tinge. In mid 2008, the company installed a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75 alongside its existing SM 74. "It was all sparked by the XL going in," says Doidge. "There was an absolute world of difference in terms of setting up difficult jobs on the XL versus the SM and that made us think, ‘what else can we do?'."

In many ways, Kingfisher's decision to invest in the XL 75 has shaped the company of today. Not only did it open the management up to the possibilities of further investment, but it also made them realise that it can pay to take the plunge early, rather than delay investment as they did with the  CTP switch. "We needed to upgrade our litho capability and we've absolutely no regrets," says Tomlin. "It turns out we timed the investment just right, before the pound collapsed against the euro, if we'd waited another six months we'd certainly have paid more for the finance."

Kingfisher's new-found philosophy of targeted investment led the firm to bring in its first digital press - a Fuji-supplied Xerox DC 5000 - in May 2009. "We had a demo on the Xerox 700 in November 2008 and a January demo on the DC 5000," says Tomlin. Ultimately Kingfisher opted for the DC 5000, but not before it had upgraded its workflow from Rampage to Fuji's XMF cross-media workflow, which Doidge describes as yet another "quantum leap". 

This flurry of investment came about following an epiphany from the firm's two joint managing directors, which led to a step-change from the historical "if it ain't broke, don't fix it attitude" that afflicts so many print businesses. "Sometimes, when you've got something that does the job well, such as Fuji Rampage or the SM74, then it can be difficult in a production environment to see how it could be done better," says Doidge.

A testament to Kingfisher's newfound focus is the admission that the company had grown rapidly to a £1m turnover, but then stagnated at £2m for a period of around four years. "Hence, the desire to push forward and invest in new equipment and marketing," says Tomlin, who is already eyeing up a higher-end digital press.

"We're very positive about the business at the moment," he adds. "We're making great progress in marketing our business and we've really woken up to the possibilities. We've identified that we needed to market to drive business growth."

That simple identification could yet be the making of this East Anglia-based SME, because all the investment in new kit will mean nothing if the equipment stands unused. Still, Kingfisher can boast a custom-made audience for its new digital capability - with many of its customers already placing digital work - and although print may not be the well paid career it once was, Kingfisher's future looks to be a bright one.

KINGFISHER FACTFILE
Founded 1991
Joint managing directors Jon Doidge and Paul Tomlin
Based Bury St Edmunds
Staff 13
Equipment Heidelberg XL 75 and SM 74, Xerox DC 5000, Luxel V6 platesetter, Fuji XMF workflow