The Cuffley, Hertfordshire-based business has won a range of new commercial work since installing a secondhand eight-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102, which it sourced from Ireland, at its 1,859sqm premises at the end of last year.
The business has traditionally been far busier in the August to December period than at other times of the year due to the nature of demand for calendar trade work.
Production director Glen Middleton said the investment has since allowed the company to maintain a healthy cashflow throughout the year by enabling it to offer a wider variety of services to an increased range of customers.
“Before we installed this press we were outsourcing all of the base print for the calendars and not doing any commercial work,” said Middleton.
“We were producing the calendars and doing all of the overprinting in-house on two-colour presses but we were spending a lot of money on outwork on base four-colour work.
“This investment was made to bring all of that outwork in-house, to give us more control of the work and more control financially, and also to enable us to do some commercial work.
“It has brought in a lot of new customers on the commercial front and we’ve now got some work coming in that supplements the calendar work.”
Middleton said the press has increased the firm’s capacity and quality and enabled it to improve delivery times. The company has already seen a turnover increase, which Middleton expects will continue.
He said: “The plan over a three-year period would be to grow by around 15% to 20%. Because we did very little commercial work before, it’s a new avenue for us.”
Middleton added that the firm has also seen a huge increase in demand for 2016 promotional calendars.
“Like all businesses we saw falling demand during the recession years but as business confidence has grown, so has the demand for promotional calendars,” he said.
“Many would say that with the advancement of digital technology that the printed calendar would become obsolete but that’s not what our customers are telling us.”
Barley Print also operates two Fuji Shinohara two-colour presses; a 52 and a 65, a two-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52, a five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74 and a range of finishing kit including collators and binders.
The business, which has 18 staff and a turnover of around £2m, can now offer items including posters, magazines, leaflets, newsletters and prospectuses to its customers.
