Installed in July at the company’s 2,790sqm premises in Huddersfield, the new Durst is additional to its portfolio, which also comprises three other Durst printers, including a Rhotex 512R for UV ink printing on superwide graphics up to 5m, a SwissQprint Nyala wide-format printer and screen printing.
The Rhotex 325 is a dual-purpose system that can alternate between direct-to-textile and transfer printing. It can produce graphics up to 3m wide, and of any roll length, and is capable of printing onto a wide range of materials using water-based ink.
Leach said the machine will widen the project briefs it is able to satisfy, particularly for frontlit work. The business will now be able to produce both indoor and outdoor graphics, products suitable for both warmer and colder climates, reusable products, and graphics for technologically challenging shapes, structures and specifications.
Leach managing director James Lavin said: “As demand from the retail, exhibition and heritage sectors continues to rise, we are passionate about being able to help more clients, as quickly as we can, without any detriment to quality.
“We now have technology capable of satisfying virtually any print brief, regardless of budget, environmental agendas, lighting specification and material preferences.”
The company looked at various alternatives, but ultimately opted to return to Durst.
“We’ve got such a good longstanding relationship with Durst. These things are often based on trust and the trust was already there, so it was an easy decision for us,” said Lavin.
“The results that we’re seeing from the Rhotex 325 so far are quite stunning.”
Established as a one-man photographic studio in 1891, Leach was acquired by France-based global manufacturing and services group Chargeurs earlier this year. It currently employs 100 staff and turns over £11m, and the plan is to double this figure within the next five years.
“Being part of Chargeurs brings a lot of interesting contacts to us in many different countries, so we are extremely optimistic about the potential for international growth going forward,” said Lavin, who stepped up from finance director in the summer to head up a new senior management team.
