Micropress kit spend tops £4m following Heidelberg XL 106 buy

Commercial printer Micropress has boosted its capacity by investing £2m in a new eight-colour Heidelberg XL 106.

The 18,000sph press, which is additional to the firm’s current plant list, will be installed at its 4,646sqm premises in Reydon, Suffolk in August.

It follows the company’s recent £2.25m spend on new equipment including a Xerox iGen 150, which was installed in December, and a five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106, which will be installed later this month.

Commercial director Robert Cross said: “We’ve been considering jumping up a capacity for some time and we’ve experienced a good quarter to the year.

“We found that even in months where it’s generally a bit quieter we’re busier all the time and can fill additional capacity, which is why we’ve put the order in for the press.

“When we moved here three years ago we had long-term plans that we’d put another perfector in and we planned the factory around that so there is a space already here for it.”

The business weighed up a range of alternatives from other manufacturers but decided that Heidelberg was the best fit for its requirements.

“We have existing Heidelberg presses so it makes sense because that way we’ve got flexibility to move jobs around the presses if they’re all working off the same plates,” said Cross.

The business also operates an eight-colour B1 Heidelberg XL105, a Domino Inkjet system, an MBO M80 buckle folder, an MBO M80 combi-folder, a Muller Martini Allegro PUR binder, a Muller Martini Prima Plus stitcher, a Heidelberg ST 450 stitcher and a Sitma polywrapping machine.

Micropress has 135 staff, which includes two press minders that have recently been taken on to help operate the XL 106. The firm is also looking to take on three apprentices over the coming months.

The business, which has a turnover of £15m and is aiming to continue its current year-on-year growth of around 10%, produces a wide variety of general print for customers ranging from publishers, print managers, agencies and end-users.