The branch, one of 14 Hobs Repro sites in the UK, relocated to a 200sqm premises in Birchwood Park two weeks ago but officially opened on 15 August, with a ceremony attended by Birchwood Town Council chair David Ellis.
Hobs also invested £50,000 on equipment for the new site, purchasing a new Canon Océ ColorWave 650, inline finishing equipment for the ColorWave and also its Xerox Versant 80 digital press, plus improvements in IT infrastructure.
Group marketing manager Paul Ryan said the search began around two months ago, with the Warrington branch, which is headed up by manager Andrew Dawson, seeking a location closer to its customer base, away from its previous premises in Winwick Quay.
“This is actually to be nearer to more of our core customers,” said Ryan.
“A lot of the customers are actually based at the complex within Birchwood Park. We do a lot of work with engineers and sector specialists that work in that area so it made sense for us to move nearer to those.
“It’s quite similar in size to Winwick Bay but is all on one level. It’s very open plan, it’s a much nicer space and a lot friendlier. When we’re doing production stuff and moving bits and pieces around, the flow of the layout has really been improved.”
The 1.1m-wide ColorWave arrived before the premises officially opened. It has capacity for up to six media rolls and the ability to print up to 225 A1pph at a maximum resolution of 600dpi.
Ryan added: “This is the newest one we’ve got and was mainly purchased because of its speed. We’re doing lots of drawings on it as well and it’s perfect for doing those on very high resolution.”
Other than Hobs Repro, Hobs also runs its Anexsys legal division, plus Hobs Studio and Hobs On-Site. The 420-staff group has sales of more than £35m and is aiming to double this figure by 2020.
