Retail Print Ltd is a new £500,000 operation set up by parent company Retail Services Group, to offer large format printing and finishing services on a broad range of substrates.

The production equipment is centred on a Swiss Q Impala large format UV inkjet printer and an Esko Kongsberg i-XP44 digital cutting and routing table. The operation is based in Holmfield, just north of Halifax.

The parent company has 70 employees and a a £7m turnover, workling directly with bluechip retailers and brands, offering design, manufacture and installation of retail displays, listing Apple, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Navico among its clients.

Its Kongsberg i-XP44 includes the new MultiCUT- HP 3kw high speed milling spindle, announced at drupa, that can handle a wide variety of material thicknesses. It also includes the UK’s first full length off load table for semi-automatic feeding. The deal with Esko was signed at drupa.

‘Retail Print Ltd has been created as a direct result of converging drupa-launched technology,’ said managing director James Dixon.’ Because of their joint capabilities we only needed to invest in two systems, making the move much more cost effective. The Impala can UV varnish and the faster Kongsberg can complete all the cutting at high speed which means there is no need for guillotining or any other finishing processes. This will help us save a lot of time and enable work to be completed much faster. Our day-to-day job is to provide fast turnaround work and this is something we can now confidently achieve.’

Mr Dixon said he had been considering the move for some time: ‘We were sending a lot of work out and the cost effective solution was to bring the processes in house but until now the right solutions were not available. We have customers in the UK, Europe and worldwide and the Kongsberg table serves us greatly.

‘Its ability to handle a wide range of substrates was very important. It can finish small thin self-adhesive sheets or large thick 50 mm timber face panels. Because it can do all these things, we are well equipped to address whatever our customers require. We are a highly responsive operation but every day is different. Now we know we can meet any eventuality. It also gives us the confidence to go out and sell a wider variety of work.’

Contact: www.esko.com and www.retailprint.co.uk