The Chichester, West-Sussex based 28-staff outfit, which specialises in a variety of marketing disciplines along with direct mail and wide-format print, will install the machine in two weeks’ time, after a “six figure investment”, according to owner Jason Boxall. The machine will be supplied by Ricoh reseller Apogee. 

Acting as an addition to its current fleet of Ricoh machines, which includes a C901, C751 and a 907EX, Boxall said he was impressed by the 110ppm machine’s ability to take longer sheets than previous iterations, up to 700mm.

“One of the key features for us was the extended banner print,” said Boxall.

“The digital presses we have installed today are limited in terms of sheet size, we do quite a lot of conference sector work - always a historically heavily reliance on the [landscape] brochure format - which we can’t produce. This new Ricoh facilitates that.

“We were one of the first in the UK for a Ricoh Pro C900 around 10 years ago. We’ve always been a strong brand advocate for Ricoh and they have supported us all the way through.” 

Utilising EFI’s E-83 Fiery RIP, Pro-Active’s four-colour (CMYK) machine has not been configured with white ink option. It prints at a maximum resolution of 1,200x4,800dpi and takes media weighing between 52gsm and 400gsm.

After a “record year” for the firm that was founded by Boxall and his partner John Noble in 1998, it is now considering investing further and replacing an older Ricoh machine with a newer version next year, along with potentially bringing perfect binding in-house. It runs a range of finishing equipment along with Epson wide-format kit.

Boxall believes one element of the £4m-turnover companies’ strong sales year has been the upcoming changes in the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), due to come into force in May 2018, leading to a resurgence in traditional direct mail.

He added: “We have GDPR practitioners here because data-based marketing is fundamental to what we do and all our clients have questions about the GDPR.

“What we are seeing as part and parcel of forthcoming regulations is potential issues about consent when it comes to email marketing and therefore direct mail is viewed as a legitimate interest. I think there’s a bit of reversion back to traditional methods; our numbers suggest direct mail is having a resurgence.”