Directors Ryan Beach and Tom Goetz founded the Derbyshire-based business in Alfreton in 2017, where they grew up, and subsequently upgraded its premises twice.
It is currently based in Chesterfield but was unable to fit any more kit in at its site and needed to upgrade, also wanting to move the company closer to where the majority of its staff live.
Derbyshire Live reported that the pair paid £285,000 for their new building, which is based in South Normanton and at around 250sqm is more than double the space of its current premises.
The newspaper reported that Beach and Goetz are planning to retain many of the original features of the building, including its engraved bricks, decorative windows, and the chapel’s large organ, although its pews will be removed. Locals had feared the church might be turned into housing when it went up for auction.
After it gets the keys to the building in around a week from now, the business will submit a change of use planning application to change the building class from its use as a church to ‘light commercial’.
Following the internal work required to enable the company to move its equipment and processes into the former church, which closed as a place of worship a year ago, six-staff Stickers and That is likely to start trading in the detached building in Q1 2023.
The company currently produces items including stickers, business cards, wide-format print, and workwear for tradespeople such as electricians and plumbers, but hopes to attract new local clients by creating a walk-in store.
“We just found this building on the market and the location was good and the size was good,” Beach told Printweek.
“Currently almost all of our business is online, so with the new premises we’re hoping to open a section up that will essentially just be a shop where somebody can come in and try on workwear. With the location there’s a lot of potential for people to drop by, which we’ve not had previously.”
He added: “Some signage is going up, showing our name. We’ve measured up to put some banners outside for the time being, until we’ve got the signage up. Inside it’s going to have both production space and offices.”
Stickers and That operates a Xerox digital printer, solvent and UV wide-format machines from Mimaki, and other kit including a Vivid VeloBlade Volta die-cutter, embroidery machines, a calender press, and heat presses.
Beach was hopeful that the company could double its turnover following the move to the larger premises.
“We’ve got a good chance to do that because we’re limited on space at the moment so we can’t really get anything additional,” he said.
Future investments could include a direct-to-film (DTF) printer or a flatbed UV machine, he added.
According to Derbyshire Live, the original church was built in or around 1881 and extended later, in or around the 1930s, before it was adapted further in recent years.
It features a chapel, a balcony that accommodates the organ, and facilities including an assembly hall, a secondary hall or meeting room, a kitchen, toilet facilities, and a large car park outside.
The former Zion Methodist church in South Normanton. Image: Google Maps
