Part of a post-Covid plan to diversify and grow the business, the move back to litho was “obvious” according to Paul Manning, co-managing director and one half of the brother-led enterprise.
“We moved back to central London just over a year ago. Our plan was to establish ourselves there, and then make use of the site in Sidcup. So now that we’re quite happy with how London has gone, the most obvious thing for us to do was to reinvest in litho,” he told Printweek.
Already fitted with power substation, press bed and purpose-built rooms for platemakers, the Sidcup facility – which Rapidity called home from 2018 until the London move in 2023 – provided the perfect base.
“Our game plan has been to have as many services as we can under one – or two – roofs, and so with the existing infrastructure and highly experienced local litho staff, it just made sense.”
Deciding to invest in secondhand equipment in order to launch quickly, Rapidity bought a 2021 push-to-stop Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75 four-colour plus coater press, along with a Muller Martini Presto II stitching line, a pair of KH 82 and TH 56 Stahl folders, and a new Polar guillotine.
Installed over late September and October 2024, the new facility has leapt into production.
“We’re already on double day shifts, and we’ll be looking to go 24 hours in the new year,” Manning said.
“We’re a well established, well-networked print business, and we tend to know where the work is.”
To take full advantage of the facility’s space, Rapidity has also decided to move its mailing work down to Sidcup, bringing in a pair of Xerox Versant 280s and a Quadient DS-700iQ Professional Folder/Inserter.
“We’ve got four [Xerox] Iridesse presses in central London, and they’re busy all the time. We really like the Versant presses; they’re straightforward and easy to run. For simple work like letters, it made sense to put them in, and free up the Iridesses to do more,” Manning said.
Due to turn over nearly £9m this year, the firm is now firmly above pre-Covid levels of £8.5m, and with the new litho division aims to hit £10m over the next few years.
The firm’s £3m-plus 2023 move to London has proved a good decision, according to Manning, when the company transferred its digital printing facilities to a refurbished 1,300sqm facility with SwissQprint, Xerox, and Canon kit.
“The business is growing at an unbelievable rate. We’ve had our best year since pre-Covid, and quite honestly it’s been down to us going back to London, investing in the site, and getting back in touch with our roots,” he said.
“And a lot of those customers have litho work as well [as digital]. Rightly or wrongly, there has been a decline in the litho market in the South East, so we feel like we could be quite handy: there are gaps in the market where some of those businesses have gone.
“There is space for a competitive, reliable, quality printer for litho in the South East, and we’re quite excited about it. We’ve started with a bang, and long may it continue.”
