Mailing broker Westcolour has bought its production in-house with the installation of two Sitma polywrapping lines purchased from Engelmann & Buckham.
Ward (l): “There will be a lot of opportunities coming up for us in the future.”
Brought to the firm’s new premises in St Austell, Cornwall, in November, the lines were accompanied by two Inc.jet systems and two Integra lifting belts. The total investment to set up the mailing factory came to around £500,000.
Moving to the new premises from an office in Devon last August, managing director James Ward said he had been working to bring the print and mailing company’s services in-house after a long period of outsourcing the processes.
“We have a lot of work on at the moment and the new systems have certainly helped us accommodate that,” he said. “This is not an investment we have taken lightly but we are already seeing how it will pay off for us down the line.
“One of the key things we can do with the new lines is create double-header seal bags for the magazines and brochures we work on, which is a pretty rare service in the UK and will hopefully give us an edge.
“This is one part of the jigsaw here. Hopefully there will be a lot of opportunities for us coming up in the future so it is important that we have the capacity to keep offering more to our customers. I hope to expand the business even further, possibly investing in more machinery down the line.”
Alongside its new Sitma lines, Westcolour also runs a Konica Minolta Bizhub Pro 1100 to keep up with extra printing demands.
Key to Westcolour’s major expansion plans, according to Ward, was St Ives veterans Steve Forrest and Averil Glencross joining the company’s board.
Westcolour now employs 12 full-time and 14 part-time staff and has sales of over £3m.
Ward said his aim is to get the figure up to £5m within the next couple of years and that he was considering possible acquisitions in the future. Its mailing services include direct mail, magazines, and mail-order catalogues.
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