One Digital mounts substantial expansion

One Digital joint managing directors Lynn Brazier and Steve Poland
One Digital joint managing directors Lynn Brazier and Steve Poland

One Digital is ramping up for a large-scale expansion over the coming months, significantly increasing its capacity and offerings for 2020.

The company’s expansion involves taking over the unit next door, investing in a Xerox Iridesse press and expanding its large-format department.

The Brighton-based printer has leased the unit next door to its existing premises for five years from January 2020 with the intent to buy, increasing its floorspace from 610sqm to 1,040sqm once a mezzanine level is fitted in the new unit. The new space will house the company’s burgeoning large-format department.

One Digital’s new Iridesse digital press, meanwhile, will be installed in late December by Xerox, replacing a Xerox Nuvera 120 mono machine, and run alongside an existing iGen 5 as a second full-colour machine.

The new press features white, gold, silver and clear inks, which offer new options to greetings card designers, a key One Digital market. It also runs at speeds of up to 120ppm and offers a 1,200x297mm size that is ideal for banner work.

The combined cost of the new lease and the Iridesse press will be around £588,000, spread over five years.

One Digital has also purchased an AM1 envelope printer and a second Duplo cutter-creaser this month, totalling £24,500.

Looking ahead, the company intends to grow its large-format department to accommodate the increasing demand it has experienced.

Next year, it anticipates investing in an Epson SureColor 80600 and a Summa roll-to-roll cutter which will run alongside its existing HP DesignJet Z6800, Roland DG XJ 740, Epson 7890, and Epson 9600 machines.

One Digital co-owner Chris Staples said: “As the co-owner of a business in a highly competitive sector, I am very pleased that, in a period of tough trading, we have been able to increase our turnover year-on-year and invest in new equipment to help us remain in a strong position.

“This is largely due to strong management and loyal, hard-working employees delivering our ethos of providing a dedicated service at a reasonable price.”

One Digital began trading as Digaprint in 1996 and gained its current name after merging with Carmichaels in 2005. It has 24 staff and an annual turnover of £2.1m.