JAG Products adds in-house manufacturing with £350k spend

JAG now manufactures and supplies a wide range of consumables
JAG now manufactures and supplies a wide range of consumables

Print consumables specialist JAG Products has added in-house manufacturing after investing more than £350,000 during the coronavirus pandemic in a new bespoke manufacturing and distribution hub.

The recently opened 1,115sqm site, based at Centurion Business Park in Nottingham, will enable the business to service print industry customers across the UK and also further opens up the export market.

After investing in specialist machinery, it now manufactures consumables including bespoke water-based coatings and emulsions, washes and solvents, and ink strippers on site. Also supplying industrial printing inks with a full colour-matching service and printing blankets, the company has a product catalogue of more than 1,700 items.

Operations manager Brian Smith told Printweek: “The impact we’re looking to achieve in terms of increased business is endless. This opens up export where unless you’re a manufacturer you’ve got absolutely no chance of getting in the export market because you can’t have three or four people’s markup sitting in one particular product. Exports are where we need to be concentrating extreme growth in.”

“It also gives us a totally new aspect to our business because we can go into the packaging market and large-format, whereas if you’re a dealer you get squeezed out of those.

“Going into the pandemic as a dealer and coming out as a manufacturer has enabled us to diversify into other streams and parts of the printing and packaging industry that we would never have got into before.”

The Nottingham facility currently employs 20 of JAG’s 30-plus UK staff. It also has a branch in Kettering, Northamptonshire and a facility in Cadishead, Greater Manchester.

JAG has been operating for six years, supplying a wide range of consumables and chemicals to the print industry. It is part of waste management group CSG while another partner brand is J&G Environmental, which specialises in the collection, treatment, disposal and recycling of print waste.

“By CSG bringing us all together, we are able to offer a complete solution for the print industry – JAG Products can supply a full range of high-quality consumables and arrange the safe disposal of waste through J&G Environmental,” said Smith.

“Our development team has created a range of products that use the least environmentally damaging materials and, because we know the exact formulation of each item, J&G Environmental are able to dispose of all waste safely and efficiently.”

CSG managing director Neil Richards added: “What Brian Smith and his team have achieved over the past year is nothing short of brilliant. To have worked throughout the lockdown to design and build this superb facility.

“Brian himself has more than 20 years’ experience in the print industry, and he was clear that only the very best products would be acceptable for his customers. He brought in an equally experienced specialist team to look after all aspects of the operation.

“Together they are really bucking the Covid-19 trend, creating employment opportunities and building a sustainable business.

“CSG is a unique family of companies, all working together to support domestic and industrial customers with the ultimate aim of reducing the volume of waste going to landfill. By linking JAG products and J&G Environmental we are ensuring the print industry receives a full supply and disposal service.”