The Suffolk commercial printer began building up its card business around eight years ago, but saw it take off during the pandemic. Since 2020, Spingold has grown its revenues from £600,000 to £1.2m, powered in large part by growing its share of the playing and gaming cards market.
Purchased through Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS) and installed last month, the new cutter had to have two cylinders so that Spingold could achieve a true male/female die crease, according to managing director Ed Oakes.
He said: “Once we saw the Horizon dual-cylinder machine a few years ago, it was just a matter of time for us.”
After just two days of training, the Horizon is in full production on the line.
Now able to produce boxes in-line on the RD-4055DM, the firm handed itself a significant boost to capacity. The Horizon is sitting alongside a pair of Duplo UD300 rotary die-cutters, which have done Spingold good service.
Oakes said: “They are excellent, and we use them day in, day out. We put the first one in seven years ago, and we use it every single day – but we couldn’t explore anything in the Duplo range because while they have a newer model, it’s still only single cylinder. The only one we could really consider was the Horizon.”
Spingold helped to fund the purchase through a £25,000 grant from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership fund, which was delivered through Suffolk County Council.
“We got the full grant, which was fantastic,” said Oakes, explaining that Spingold was able to buy the machine outright thanks to the grant.
“With the cost of financing going up at the moment because of rising interest rates, it meant we were able to make the decision without having to think about borrowing.”
Having grown so quickly during the pandemic, the company is now trying to cement its position in the cards market. Spingold, which employs 12, has recently taken on a web designer alongside three employees who had lost their jobs at other printing companies during the pandemic.
The designer will redevelop the company’s websites, and help it to develop its sales and marketing effort.
“[The Horizon] has come in at the right time. We’re ready for our busiest period, the summer, when we produce for those selling on Amazon for Christmas.
“If growth carries on the way it has, or even at half the pace, it should pay for itself in two years.”
Spingold prints with a Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000, two Xerox Versant 180s, a pair of HP Latex presses and an Epson fine art photo printer.
