PressOn relocates to new premises to support expansion

Wide-format digital printer PressOn has moved to new larger premises in Chatham, Kent to support its continued growth.

The business, which was previously based in Rochester across a number of leased smaller units totaling 697sqm of space, has moved a few miles over to the new rented premises.

All of the firm’s 26 staff have moved across to the new unit, which is based near the M2 and has more than 930sqm of space.

According to the company, the new facility offers a much larger area of usable space for print and finishing equipment and storage and will futureproof the company for future expansion.

The move has allowed for a more logical and linear production process, which has enabled the business to speed up print production and finishing times and, as a result, increase its capacity.

The relocation, which cost the firm around £150,000, was completed earlier this year and follows recent rapid growth.

In the past three years the company’s turnover has grown by 37% to around £3m. In the same period it has invested over £900,000 in new machinery, including an HP Latex 3000, an HP Latex 360, an EFI Vutek QS2 Pro, a Kongsberg iXP24 digital cutting table, a SupraCoater 1600 liquid laminator and, most recently, a Solent Texsew Pro for automated stitching.

Joint managing directors Andy Wilson and Nigel Webster established PressOn in 2000.

Wilson said: “We’d just outgrown the site in Rochester and were getting frustrated. The new site is a vast airy space and a great environment to work in. We’ve already seen improved efficiencies through streamlining.

“We’re also raising the bar on technical excellence, by giving the team time to push the machinery we have to its limits. We’re testing constantly and experimenting so we can offer our customers innovative print. That’s a key focus for us for 2015.”

Webster added: “One of the unexpected changes we’ve seen in the new premises is the effect on the morale of the team. Previously we were all in separate offices and buildings so sometimes things got disjointed.

“Bringing everyone together in the one space has been great. Improved communication and problem solving from the team was obvious within days of moving.”

In the past few years PressOn has completed projects for Paultons Park, American Apparel, Crossrail, The Ritz London and Kingston University.

Last summer the firm wrapped one of the last remaining First World War warships in what it said was “one of its most challenging projects to date”. It has entered this project into the Fespa Awards 2015.