In May this year, the £3.2m turnover company, which employs 45 staff, secured a £1.3m cash injection from Yorkshire Bank’s Investing for Growth Initiative, which supported the acquisition of a 2,800sqm factory in Chester-le-Street, just eight miles from its old base.
Additional up-front funding from the scheme has also allowed PBL to pay for the factory to be refurbished, creating dedicated back-office space and air-conditioned facilities for its computer-to-plate systems.
Combined with a £1.5m pressroom upgrade, funded through asset finance lending firm Lombard, PBL expects the investment to boost output by more than 50% and double turnover to more that £6m within five years.
Bolstering its long-running partnership with Heidelberg, PBL traded in its existing Speedmaster 74 and an Anicolour for a Heidelberg SX-74 5, an Anicolour SX 52-5 and an Anicolour SX 52-4. To cope with the increased output, PBL also added two new folding machines and a guillotine to its pressroom portfolio.
PBL Print sales director Chris Murley said the company had been restricted by the size of its previous production facility and had needed a fast-acting lending organisation.
He added: "We were impressed with the way Yorkshire Bank was able to adapt to changes in circumstances promptly and efficiently which enabled us to buy the new factory."
Murley said that unlike previous lenders, which had taken a distinctly "remote" involvement with PBL, Yorkshire Bank had developed a strong working relationship with the team "almost becoming part of the company".
The Yorkshire Bank lending scheme allows businesses to benefit from interest-only repayments, loan repayment holidays and extended loan and credit terms while re-investing the cash into their operation for expansion, new staff, equipment, machinery and commercial development.
Yorkshire Bank Tees Valley Financial Solutions Centre business partner Paul Wells said the type of funding available through the initiative could be tailored to individual business requirements, including printers.
Wells explained that the bank has supported printers in the past and over the last five years had noted an increasing trend for businesses to run their equipment down.
"One of the patterns we've seen in the last five years is that printing businesses, along with other manufacturers, have tended to ‘make do' with machinery which is nearing the end of its life and ultimately impacting upon their competitiveness in the market.
"Many companies are now realising that this cannot continue and are seeking alternative funding options, such as asset finance, so they can invest in new technology."
Murley said that PBL's increased capacity resulting from the investments had already enabled the firm to take on five extra staff with plans to increase headcount by around five more over the next six to nine months.
"This is just the beginning of a strong five-year growth plan," he added.
