And yet managing director of Hertfordshire Display Peter Watkins reckons there are more similarities than you’d expect. He reckons his previous life as bassist in indie band Rotating Leslie and producer at his own music studios in North London, has actually put him in surprisingly good stead for a career in print.
"When print went more digital – more PDF-driven – it meant it became not that different from producing music: both involve me being behind a computer, manipulating whatever it is in front of me, to produce an output," he says. "So whether it’s music coming out the other end or print, in my head it’s similar. I just like making computers do fun stuff."
"Being in the band was really fun; we got to play in the US, we played festivals," adds Watkins of his time in Rotating Leslie. "But I’m getting a bit old for all of that loud music and partying, so it was time to get a proper job."
Unfortunately for Watkins, the similarities between music making and printing don’t end at the software. Though perhaps not quite the rock-and-roll lifestyle Watkins was seeking a break from, life at Hertfordshire Display is still pretty hectic.
Not that Watkins, who joined the company five years ago and took over from his father last summer, would have it any other way. The busyness of his new working life is for him a good sign of the business’s health.
The company has certainly gone from strength to strength since it was established by Watkins’ parents in 1973. Today it boasts a turnover around the £2m mark and employs 25 staff. It processes work for a whole range of clients, from consumers dropping in to the high-street shop, all the way up to major supermarket chains.
Such a busy copy-cum-print shop needs, then, kit as hardworking as its staff. Which was why the company decided, at the beginning of this year, that it was time to upgrade its two ageing Xerox Nuveras.
"We’d had Nuveras for seven years; we had the very first ones that came out, the first Mark 1s," says Watkins. "We’ve always been really happy with them but it was time to update them – they were getting a little old."
The obvious step would have been to automatically upgrade to the latest iteration, the Nuvera 144 EA. The proud owners of a whole range of Xeroxes, including two Xerox 1000s and two 250s, the company is after all something of a Xerox house. And in fact the company did in the end upgrade to the 144 EA.
But the creative maverick in Watkins was initially keen to do things just a bit differently. Relatively fresh in his new role, Watkins wanted to challenge the traditional Hertfordshire Display way, just to check the company was truly getting its money’s worth.
Different options
So Watkins’ research involved leaving no stone unturned to look at all competitor black and white printers. "I sort of had my heart set on putting a different brand of machine in, if I’m honest. I thought I’d mix it up and not rely on Xerox so as to keep them on their toes a bit," admits Watkins.
But there was a problem: although Watkins was most taken with Canon’s Océ VarioPrint 6000 and its "fresh approach to the technology", he found the toner rubbed off when prints were put through his Morgana folder and Duplo bookletmaker. So Watkins had to concede that sometimes mum and dad do know best, and that there was good reason they’d been loyal Xerox customers all those years.
There were other convincing reasons for sticking with Xerox. "We’re premier partners with Xerox so we get special rates," reports Watkins, adding that the real clincher was the ability to match the tones of different machines’ black ink.
"We run a lot of work where we do the colour bits on our 1000 presses and black on the Nuvera and then put the books together. The toner on the Nuvera seems to match the black on the 1000s so the jobs really sit together nicely, whereas when we compared the toner from the Océ and Ricoh machines it just wasn’t as solid."
Watkins adds: "There are a few other nice things where it can print on a slightly larger sheet and there’s a modification available for us to speed it up to 157ppm which is a nice option, and in the future we might move forwards with it. But they do what they’re supposed to and are really reliable and they sit really well with all the other equipment."
Xerox has lent characteristically strong service support with the new printers, says Watkins. His only cause for complaint was the machines being installed a week or so late. "We were worried we’d get swamped with a load of work, as at the end of the financial year sometimes it gets really busy with people spending the last bits of their budget. We were really worried we were going to go into that period taking our machines out and waiting for new ones to come in," says Watkins. "But the worst case scenario didn’t happen and we managed."
Xerox responds that this delay was a result of supply constraints due to demand at the time on the particular configuration that Hertfordshire Display wanted. Watkins says he was more than happy with the compensation given by Xerox.
Apart from a few post-install teething problems, the Nuveras have been performing very well since they were installed at the beginning of April. "We’ve not had any breakdowns apart from the standard calls where they come and tweak bits here and there," says Watkins. "The service side of Xerox is very strong and that’s one of the other reasons we stayed with them."
The main bulk of the work the Nuveras blast through is made up of newsletters and manuals, reports Watkins. The machines have been invaluable, he adds, in processing the kind of bread-and-butter, mono jobs that have been a real staple in these recession and post-recession times.
"We do quite a lot of newsletters and manuals and what we’ve noticed is that before the recession people were spending more on full-colour documents but since recession’s hit they’ve cut back a bit," says Watkins. "Supermarkets have switched from doing their training manuals in colour to black and white, for instance."
Personal touch
Adding to the demand for the Nuveras is a growing personalisation trend. Watkins says: "There’s much more opportunity for personalisation now and we’re getting more into that sector; we’ve just brought in a new sales guy who has a good background in this stuff."
The Nuveras are indispensable here because they can keep up pretty well with the firm’s four-colour Presstek and two-colour AB Dick 9995A. Watkins says: "The Nuveras are really good for overprinting the personalisation. So where we might be printing long runs on our presses, we then put that on the Nuveras to do personalised names and addresses. The Nuveras don’t stop ever – they’re probably our busiest machines."
The two Nuvera 144 EAs have, then, so far contributed to Hertfordshire Display in exactly the way the company’s needed them to. Though not flashy or glam, even by print’s standards, they are nonetheless the stars of the show.
SPECIFICATIONS
Rated speed A4: 144ipm; A3: 72ipm
Resolution print: 4,800x600dpi; RIP: 1,200dpi; scan: 600dpi; scan to file: 300, 400, 600, 1,200dpi
Recommended average monthly volume 2m images per month
Duty cycle Up to 4.3m images per month
Scan speed Integrated scanner: 120ipm (single- and double-sided originals)
Standard paper capacity 3,200/5,800 sheets per module
Max paper capacity with options 17,400 sheets
Min media dimensions four-tray module: 140x203mm; two-tray module: 182x203mm
Max media dimensions 320x470mm
Min stock weight 56gsm
Max stock weight 200gsm
Price from £110,855
Contact Xerox 0870 873 4519 www.xerox.co.uk
COMPANY PROFILE
Hertfordshire Display was established in 1973 by the parents of current managing director Peter Watkins. Today the company boasts a turnover of around £2m and employs 25 staff. Along with a whole range of Xerox kit, including two Xerox 1000s and two Xerox 250s, the company also has two large-format HPs and a smaller HP machine. Although the company also operates a four-colour Presstek and a two-colour AB Dick 9995A, managing director Peter Watkins sees it as "at heart a digital company".
Why it was bought...
At the start of 2013, the company decided it was time to replace its seven-year-old Xerox Nuveras. Two Xerox Nuvera 144 EAs were installed in April, with the company opting to stick with Xerox due to the black of its toner remaining the best match for work coming off its Xerox 1000s. The speed, tray size and heavier stock handling capabilities also impressed.
How it has performed...
Hertfordshire Display’s only gripe was a delayed installation. The new machines also experienced a few teething problems upon installation, but are now both functioning very well, reports Watkins. "They do what they’re supposed to and are really reliable, and they sit really well with all the other equipment," he says.
