The London-headquartered printer’s Irish division has worked with Three Ireland for the past six years as an agreed supplier, mainly producing POS and creative windowscapes.
Following Three’s acquisition of O2 Ireland in July 2014 Three Ireland tendered for all its print work – all retail POS and fit-out projects, commercial print for its head office, promotional magazines and special projects, such as sport and music events.
Three Ireland is a sponsor of both the Irish rugby and football teams and is also involved in music, having also acquired Dublin’s premiere concert venue O2 Dublin, now called 3Arena. Previously O2 Ireland’s print work was fulfilled by print management company RR Donnelley. Three now has almost 70 retail outlets in Ireland.
Delta Ireland won the tender and signed the contract, the value of which is not being revealed for commercial reasons, last week. It started producing print under the new deal in December.
Managing director Peter Mahon said: “It’s quite exciting for us. It’s quite varied and it’s not just print, we also provide some design and artwork. We work quite closely with them on a number of campaigns.”
These included a shop window campaign for Christmas 2014 which featured several streetscapes tailored to different towns and cities, a project which won the company the large-format printer of the year award at the Irish Print Awards in November.
The 20-staff business currently has four people in production in a 1,440sqm facility in Ballycoolin, Dublin, which Mahon said was big from an Irish point of view, working on two HP roll-to-roll and two HP flatbed machines. Now he is scoping out a new production building and looking to add two or three new print operatives as well as a new large-format printer and a small-format digital machine.
“We have set ourselves quite aggressive growth targets. We want to grow 30-40% year-on-year.
"This is a game changer for us, first of all to win over bigger companies and also to win work from a print management company. It’s a great coup for the business.”
He said the relationship between the two companies had grown as Three Ireland had grown.
“We know the business and most importantly, understand their requirements. But you’re only as good as your last job. We’ve got to continue delivering quality and working in partnership with the client. We’re not just thinking of the next job, we’re thinking about six to 12 months down the line.”
Channel marketing manager at Three Ireland Cyril Arnaud said: “Delta Ireland has continually proven its capabilities in delivering successful campaigns for us since we began working together. Their end-to-end, technology-driven offering and retail expertise will be particularly vital for us as we look to keep current customers engaged and attract new mobile phone users to our offering."
Delta Ireland also produces prints for a range of clients including drinks manufacturer Pernod Ricard, which owns Jameson Irish whiskey.
