Screen Europe relocates UK base

Japanese digital technology specialist Screen has relocated its UK office as part of a plan to centralise its European operations to the Netherlands.

As part of a strategy to create a pan-European site the business has down-scaled its UK operations moving its back office services from Milton Keynes to a smaller office in Luton while relocating its demo centre and integration activities to the Netherlands. 

The company has invested in the refurbishment of its existing facility near Amsterdam to include a new "solutions centre" kitted out with a full range of digital print-on-demand (POD) equipment, as well as a series of meeting rooms. The site will also become Screen’s European spares centre.

The new Luton base, which has retained 34 staff, will continue to provide the same sales, helpdesk, spares and support services across the UK. Screen has recruited four new members of staff for its Netherlands operations, to replace UK staff that did not want to relocate.

Screen Europe president Brian Filler said that the move reflected the transition of its products from CTP to POD. "In the past we were selling hundreds of units at €100,000 each where we could afford to have multiple demo centres across Europe, but now we sell tens of units at €1.5m it becomes more difficult to keep that value of equipment on the books. It changes the whole structure of what we do."

"No-one really needs to see CTP demos any more and if they do we can just take them to any number of customers that have them, but if someone wants to see a POD device then they need to travel to the European showroom to see it but that is nothing out of the ordinary."