The 1,200m2 facility in Guildford will provide a 24-hour service to Stehlin Hostag clients in London and the south from next spring. The firm has relocated its Chichester-based business, including six of the eight employees there, to Guildford.

Stehlin Hostag Ink will retain its Harlow satellite branch to service clients in north London, as well as its UK head office in Nottingham and its site in Leeds.

Stehlin Hostag Ink UK managing director Grant Penfield said that the southern headquarters was part of his strategy to dominate the pressroom with a full range of products.

The Guildford site, which has 13 employees, already lists St Ives Westerham, Howard Hunt, Parkway Communications and Friary Press among its 300 clients, but Penfield said that he hoped that would go up by 100 in the coming year.

This is a big commitment to the market. Guildford will provide a night and day service from the Q2 of 2004, said Penfield.

Story by John Davies