Regional NSW firm Speciality Press has become one of the first printers in the Albury area to enter the wide format market with a new hybrid UV flatbed.

The $2m turnover 16-staff business installed an Agfa Anapurna M2 last week, and has successfully printed on foam board, wood, corflute and glass with strong interest from clients.

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General manager at Speciality Press Mark Lafferty says almost none of the few printers in Albury, on the border of NSW and Victoria, or surrounding areas do wide format in-house and it was time to enter the booming market.

“Instead of outsourcing all the time we thought we would jump in and be first. It is growing so fast so you have to be in it or you will lose work,” he says.

“It is much cheaper to do it on site in Albury than trucking it in from out of town, especially as the products are often bulky and expansive to move.

“This printer with its UV ability can print on virtually everything up to 1.6 metres wide, which is very attractive to us and our clients and makes one-off products viable.

“You have to offer more products these days.”

Lafferty hopes to improve Specialty’s bottom line by 10 per cent this year from the higher margins of wide format work and to hire one or two more staff to run it by the end of 2015.

“We do not have a financial target yet but we will look at making a budget in a couple of months once we have a better idea of the demand around here,” he says.

The company will start by offering the service to its existing clients now, and in about two months will market it to businesses in and around the town, as well as do trade work for other printers.

Specialty Press also produces general commercial, posters, books, labels, and magazines using both offset and digital technology, along with design and print management services.

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