Offset Printing
En Route Design & Print attributes growth in recession to Anicolor technology
Friday 08. April 2011 - Surrey company En Route this year celebrates its 30th anniversary and says even in this latest and toughest recession it has achieved growth. This it attributes to the purchase of the Speedmaster SM 52-4+L Anicolor which has enabled it to grow its sales over the last two years to lift from £830,000 to £1.24m per annum.
“We took on this press to attract work that would otherwise have gone digital and its worked,” says Vince Hogg, managing director . “Our average order value is £500 and we have handled runs from 50 or 100. People are genuinely surprised, even shocked, that we can do these types of run for them on a litho press. Given the choice they want to go litho.”
En Route started out as a print broker in 1981, started printing in 1987 and within months switched from a rival model to Heidelberg technology. Mr Hogg and his team loved the Speedmaster SM 52-5-P but Mr Hogg says the SM 52-4+L Anicolor is the best press choice he has made.
“The five-colour SM 52 was a great machine but the Anicolor has simplified printing further and made production easier than ever,” he says. “We have no stock restrictions and can even handle point of sale and lightweight packaging as well as standard commercial work.”
This allows the management to focus on customers and it is its customer-centric approach that Mr Hogg says has been critical to success.
“Would I go into print if I started again now? Yes. Everything has its challenges but we enjoy dealing with customers and building on-going relationships. We have always had a design service and have dealt almost exclusively direct rather than through print management companies and thats worked for us,” says Mr Hogg.
The company, which this year attained its FSC certification, is currently kitting out its 4,500 sq ft factory unit with a new meeting room with a coffee lounge feel, somewhere customers can visit and feel comfortable and which promotes the design as well as the production services. Once this is complete in June, En Route will start to plan some 30th anniversary celebrations and events.