Two secondhand KBAs, a five-colour Rapida 162a and a four-colour Rapida 205 UV plus coater, the latter relocated from the ill-fated Capital Print and Display, form the brunt of Alderson's Point of Sale firepower.

In addition, Alderson Print Group has bought a PlateRite Ultima 36000 VLF platesetter and three new HP digital presses – a Turbojet 8500, DesignJet 5500 and DesignJet 8000 – as well as a GBC Laminator 1064 WFT and a Summa vinyl cutter.

Andy Cuff, group studio manager at Alderson Print Group, said the company had already begun to bring PoS work in-house that would previously have been outsourced.

"We were offering a point-of-sale service to some of our large corporate customers in conjunction with our sheetfed and web side already," he said.

"But whereas before we could take on the whole campaign and then have to farm out the PoS to different places, we can obviously keep it all in-house now, which makes it a lot easier."

The company is currently waiting for electricity supply issues to be resolved in order to fire up the Rapida 205, which can print up to a maximum sheet size of 1,510x2,050mm, ahead of an anticipated launch date for Alderson POS of mid-to-late May.

"It gives us the edge on a lot of other printers who have either got litho or web, whereas we can now offer everything from digital all the way up to PoS," said Cuff.

"It's a new business for us and we are winning a few new customers with it to be quite honest."

Also see:
Alderson Brothers Print Group brings stitching in-house with Heidelberg ST350 spend
Alderson adds an Anicolor to its line-up