Kolorcraft and Lombard invest in next generation print technology
[Monday, 04 April. Lombard] West Yorkshire point-of-sale specialist, Kolorcraft, has agreed an asset funding package with Lombard, providing funds towards the cost of a new high-performance, wide-format digital press. The press is the first of its kind to be operated commercially anywhere in the world and is part of a £1m investment in state of the art technology by the company.
Left to right: Steve Stothart, Kolorcraft Finance Director, Jonathan Plaxton, Relationship Director, and Jan Sykes, Kolorcraft Operations Director.
Based in Ossett, Kolorcraft is one of the largest point-of-sale producers in the UK and has a £25m turnover. The company employs 250 people working around the clock to provide in-store design and print solutions for blue-chip, high-street and out-of-town retail customers.
Kolorcraft's premises houses over 180,000 square feet of production and warehousing space providing multi-process print production including large format and conventional litho, screen process, wide format and flat-bed digital print.
The revolutionary Inca Onset S40 flatbed press, runs at speeds in excess of 400 sq m/hr, and will create additional print capacity whilst increasing the quality of digitally produced work allowing Kolorcraft to continue to grow their business by reducing costs and increasing sales.
The press was subject to strenuous on-site Beta testing between October and February and having proved its success, will be launched for general sale by Fujifilm and Inca later in 2011.
Steve Stothart, Finance Director of Kolorcraft said: "This is an exciting new venture for the business in a very competitive marketplace. We need to use the latest technology to deliver high quality digital print at the right price and this investment offers us both of those things well ahead of our competition.
"This purchase places us at the forefront of digital print technology and the injection of funding has been crucial for that. When compared to raising £2m for our large format litho investment, this asset funding exercise offered many more challenges. It takes courage and confidence to invest in new technology, especially in the current marketplace, but Lombard was fully supportive and receptive to our needs and the needs of our customers."
Jonathan Plaxton, relationship director at Lombard added: "Having been introduced to the company by my colleagues at NatWest I am delighted we've been able to support them in this way.
"This is an exciting development for the team at Kolorcraft as they now bring into use this cutting edge equipment. We are delighted to have helped Kolorcraft with a flexible funding package which was funded in a capitally efficient manner so protecting the working capital in the business."
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For further information please contact:
Matthew Evans
Regional Communications
07770 701830
Notes to Editors
Lombard is part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. As one of the largest asset financiers in the UK and voted best by Business Moneyfacts in 2009, 2010 and 2011, Lombard provides various forms of asset finance to businesses of varying sizes – from SMEs to large corporates. Products include Hire Purchase, Finance Lease, Operating Lease, Sale and Leaseback, Contract Hire, to Contract Purchase, as well as multi-specialist asset finance products such as marine, aviation and specific wholesale and stocking funding for distributors and dealerships.
Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2011, Lombard is headquartered in Redhill, Surrey, with an extensive network of business centres situated throughout the UK, and is an appointed representative of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
For more information contact:
Karyn Theron
PR & Communications Manager, Lombard
+44 771 780 7092
karyn.theron@lombard.co.uk
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group:
The RBS Group is a large international banking and financial services company. Headquartered in Edinburgh, the Group operates in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia, serving over 30 million customers.
The Group provides a wide range of products and services to personal, commercial and large corporate and institutional customers through its two principal subsidiaries, The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, as well as through a number of other well-known brands including, Citizens, Charter One, Ulster Bank, Coutts, Direct Line and Churchill.
The UK Government has a total shareholding in RBS Group of 39.7 billion shares, 70.3% of the total outstanding shares on issue or an economic interest of 84%.
