The 12-year-old business started out as a digital print business with three Xerox DocuColor 5000s printing leaflets, business cards and calendars, but moved into wide-format work two years ago, following client enquiries, with the installation of a Roland DG VS-540 print and cut with metallic and white ink option.
“Wide-format has really changed the shape of our business,” said managing director Ron Fothergill.
“Our sales used to be about 70% digital to 30% wide-format work and now it’s the other way around in just two years, and we’re growing sales in both areas. On top of the calendar and leaflet printing we now print wallpaper, vehicle graphics and signage.”
Since expanding into wide-format the company has seen turnover grow from around £100,000 to £250,000 this year, prompting the decision to invest in a 64in Epson Stylus Pro 11880 at the start of the 2014.
“This last year has seen such rapid growth; we never thought we’d be investing in more wide-format equipment this quickly,” said Fothergill.
“We do a lot of work for shopping centres, and need really fast turnarounds but we just couldn’t get jobs dry in time. We have drying racks, which are fine for vinyls but not for paper, especially when you’re trying to dry 50 prints at a time. We were using heaters and burning through electricity like crazy but now with the Epson’s instant-dry capability we can do same-day or next-day really easily,” he added.
Expanding its finishing department, the business also took delivery of a new £17,000 Morgana Digifold around three weeks ago, replacing an older Morgana model that was sold on eBay.
The new device joins a bookletmaker and guillotine, also from Morgana, and a Foliant laminator and 3.8m-wide Keencut cutting table that were both installed around six months ago.
Fothergill said that the company would continue to push its digital work, particularly its range of promotional business calendars, which have just received the industry award for best digital calendar for the fifth consecutive year.
With two years to run on the finance agreement for his Xerox machines Fothergill said when that expires he intends to upgrade to a larger facility from Ditto's current 465sqm factory, with the intention of investing in a Xerox iGen. In the interim, he said the company would invest in OKI equipment with white and clear printing options.
“We want to be able to offer our clients something extra. You can’t just sit back these days; the days when you could just make lots of money like that have gone,” he said.
The three-person team is also set to expand this year with the addition of a second apprentice and potentially another full-time member of staff towards the end of the year.
