The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 44: Aug/Sept 2019 | Page 26

BRINGING COLOUR TO LIFE FOR 40 YEARS This year Swindon’s Acorn Press is celebrating 40 years in business. Since being set up in 1979 the firm has never stood still, it works across the UK with Blue chip organisations and smaller businesses, bringing print, colour and marketing campaigns to life. 2019 has been a landmark year, investing over £1.5m in new equipment and implementing a new management structure. Company Director Ross Peart said, “There were areas of the business that needed strengthening, both in management and day-to-day administration and we’ve invested heavily to make our business more efficient. We now have a completely different production facility, one that keeps us at the forefront of the printing industry. “We’ve taken on two senior people who are very experienced in the industry. They have come to manage the changes with us. We have also managed the workflow, so the work is coming in more directly from clients and going straight through the system more quickly and efficiently.” Acorn has also invested in a new state-of- the-art printing press which is a Heidelberg XL106 5 colour with coater that prints up to a maximum sheet size of B1 or 720 x 1020mm. Ross said ‘’It runs at 18,000 sheets an hour it really is fantastic and has transformed the service we are able to offer our clients.” They have also updated the equipment in their bindery to handle the increased productivity, with three folding machines, a brand-new guillotine and a new muller. The whole business is running at a different pace. On the digital and large format side of the business they have added a second digital press and invested in equipment that allows for specialist finishes such as foil block and laminate. They also have a new HP printer for pull up banners, and large format printing which expands client’s options considerably. Due to increased turnover in this department they have been employing new staff boosting their current 50-strong team. Ross said, “We’re dealing with large Blue chip end users as well as many other SMEs and in order to supply that market, you have to be able to do what you say you can do and have the right equipment to be able to do it. “However, service is at the heart of everything we do. We’re not a commodity-led printer and I believe that is why Acorn Press has endured. We believe in the personal touch and very much like to go out and see people. When you actually meet people and talk about what they want, it’s very different to what is initially discussed in black and white online. “Print is having a resurgence. People are returning to print. The electronic world is all well and good, but how do you let people know about your website? How many spam emails do you get a day? People are looking to target and get hold of their audience in different ways and are going back to print.” Acorn Press is an ethical printer with ISO 14001 certification and the environmental aspect of printing is important to them. They use recycled or sustainable FSC papers, vegetable-based inks, mailings that use potato starch poly and recycle all of their plates and waste paper. They print everything from advertising material to books, brochures and the magazine you’re reading. Acorn’s customers include holiday companies, publishers, charities, IT businesses, schools, universities and colleges, premier league football clubs and fine art companies. BRINGING COLOUR TO LIFE PRINT ON DEMAND 01793 608 900 26 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2019 DIGITAL PRINT [email protected] LITHO PRINT acornpress.co.uk LARGE FORMAT