Minprint was regularly working with five-staff Alpine – managing director Andrew McAlpin is the husband of Minprint director Jamie McMinnis’ cousin – and McMinnis said it made sense for Alpine to relocate to Minprint’s September 2016-purchased wide-format unit.
The acquisition went through on 1 January, with the Vutek, which replaces an HP Scitex FB700, coming in a couple of months previously.
Minprint purchased the 750sqm Belfast-based unit just round the corner from its main 1,400sqm premises on Castlereagh Road last September and moved an HP DesignJet and Esko Kongsberg cutting table in there.
“We had noticed the relationship had been building and we were working more and more closely together,” said McMinnis.
“They needed more room to do more vehicle and sign fabrication and we were taking on this unit for the additional production capacity. They bring 30 years of expertise and knowledge in the sector, specifically for sign manufacturing, vehicle graphics and installation, whereas we are more prone to displays and stuff that can go into the box."
McMinnis added that he wouldn’t rule out further acquisitions in the future.
“We probably won’t stretch ourselves to taking over the world but I can see the requirement for expansion,” he said.
Alpine, which has sales of £300,000, is now trading under the Minprint name but has retained its brand identity for the time being. McAlpin is now a Minprint director.
The Vutek can print onto substrates up to 50mm thick. It has a 7pl drop size and prints at 600dpi or 1,000dpi at up to 223sqm/hr. The 10-colour LED UV device uses EFI’s Cool Cure technology and can print onto a wide range of substrates including heat-sensitive materials.
McMinnis said the machine had allowed Minprint to take on more work because of increased production capacity since it moved into the new unit.
Minprint, which now has 55 staff and sales of £3.5m, also runs a MIS from Shuttleworth, which was acquired by EFI in 2015. It uses EFI DirectSmile Cross Media software to help produce multimedia campaigns and promotional products.
In its main premises it mainly runs a February 2015-installed B2 Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75 and a Xerox CP1000.
