North Wolds upgrades digital set-up

North Wolds Printers has taken on a new trainee and made its first major investment since the business changed ownership last summer.

The firm has upgraded its digital printing facilities with a £70,000 spend on Xerox kit. It installed a Xerox 700 digital colour press and Xerox Colour J75 press, both with EFI Fiery front-ends, earlier this month.  

North Wolds Printers gained Regional Growth Fund support for the investment, and has taken on trainee Beth Walker as a result.

“It made business sense to make the investment, and the RGF support accelerated what we wanted to do,” said managing director Gurdev Singh, who acquired the business in August 2014 from retiring owner Peter Meggitt.

At the time Singh said he planned to expand the digital side of the operation, which runs litho, digital and letterpress kit and serves a range of private and public sector clients.

“Our clients in the education field want to do more on-demand work,” he explained. “The two new Xerox printers work in conjunction with each other and give us flexibility and contingency.”

Singh said the intention was for Walker to learn about all aspects of production, before moving into account management dealing with clients. “As she progresses through the business we will then aim to take another trainee on – it’s grow your own,” he added.

The Xerox Colour J75 is also fitted with a Xerox SquareFold trimmer module, which enables the inline production of stitched booklets with a perfect-bound appearance.

North Wolds Printers is based in Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It has turnover of around £1.3m and employs 18 staff.