Imprint was established in the 1980s by one of our Directors, John, in his home garage with just a £200 investment. He had a wealth of printing experience having served a 5 year apprenticeship as a hot metal compositor, he then very quickly moved into management.

Within a few years, he was joined by his son, making Imprint a truly family-run business. Over the intervening years, the business has grown and thrived. In 2008 the decision was made to re-brand to Imprint Colour Limited, a name that better reflected the move into colour print. Now based in Aldershot the business is managed by a small team of experienced staff.

Like most businesses Imprint Colour has had to accelerate change, mainly due to the pandemic, but in recent months geo-political events. After much thought in early 2022, they took the difficult decision to move out of in-house B3 litho printing. This was driven by increased input cost pressures and competition from the B2 litho print market. In retrospect this has proven a wise decision, energy use is now 15 – 20% lower and the business is more sustainable and profitable.

Now purely a digital print business, in 2022 they invested in a Konica Minolta KM12000 to increase output and enable long-sheet duplex printing. This proved a wise move being particularly popular with trade clients needing short-run 6pp A4 leaflets. Paired with their Ricoh 8310 mono digital press Imprint Colour can offer a complete on-demand service to their increasing customer base.

Investment has just been made in landscape A4 booklet making, enabling them to offer landscape booklet finishing on-site. Most finishing is now being produced in-house, from laminating and digital foiling to PUR perfect binding. Digital die cutting is an important part of Imprint Colours business. Using an Intec FB8000 they are printing and kiss-cutting on-demand adhesive labels for a multi-national business shortening lead times and allowing for ultra-short runs. The flatbed cutter is also used for short-run tab sets for training material helping keep outsourcing costs under control.

With an eye to offering customers a total on-demand print service, they have just taken the decision to invest in web-2-print with the assistance of Konica Minolta and Flex4 OPS, who between them have been exceptionally helpful. This will be rolled out to existing clients. Linked to their Optimus MIS this will improve service and reduce duplication of tasks. It has also allowed them to update their current business to customer e-commerce website and let them offer dynamic online pricing.

In an effort to diversify in Imprint Colour launched www.doodlebox.co.uk. An online garment customisation service. This is proving popular with new customers. They are also able to cross-sell customised apparel to their numerous clients. They are constantly looking for new business opportunities that offer good ROI. Tim said ‘We are transforming our business and are extremely optimistic about the future, even given the current economic headwind’.