The six-colour plus coater press will be operational from March 2023 and will run alongside the company’s existing Speedmaster CX 102.
The business, which operates sites in Peterlee, County Durham; Washington, Tyne and Wear; and Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, said the new press will provide brand owners with more flexibility for spot colours, while the coating unit will allow a large selection of coatings “to give the right look and feel to any product”.
Managing director David Cooper said: “This latest investment allows us to grow our business across both envelopes and packaging, offering exceptional production speeds with increased flexibility and without any compromise on quality.
“We are committed to continuous strategic investment in the latest industry technology, to ensure that we are delivering a best in class service for all of our clients as standard.”
Ryan Miles, managing director at Heidelberg UK, also commented: “Something we take pride in is our strong customer relationships. One such example is our decades-long relationship with Encore Group, and we have been collaborating with them to ensure we both deliver consistently high levels of satisfaction. We are delighted to continue to be the partner of choice for Encore Group.”
The Encore Group consists of Encore Envelopes and Encore Packaging Solutions. It recently became one of a small pool of UK printers to have its emissions targets validated with the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).
Encore Packaging Solutions invested in its fourth Bobst machine earlier this year to support its growth ambitions, taking delivery of the new Expertfold 110 A2 at its Peterlee site in April.
The division manufactures printed folded cartons and printed corrugated boxes for a wide range of sectors including food, e-commerce, automotive, pets, and beauty. It also holds BRC AA Food Grade accreditation.
The Encore Group employs 300 staff across its three sites and produces over 50 million envelopes per week, supporting both direct mail and transactional mail sectors. Its packaging offering spans food, retail, medical and healthcare, and e-commerce.
