Wide-format print company 'The Print Hive' was founded ten years ago in a spare bedroom
A decade in large-format printing
Established in 2012, The Print Hive is a dedicated print-service-provider which specialises in supplying the print trade, sign-makers, creatives, and design agencies with large format, high quality printed products. These range from smaller banners to sizeable billboards that can be made on short lead times to ensure customer demands are met.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2022, this start-up had a humble beginning having been created in a spare bedroom. The Print Hive quickly realised that there was a gap for a trade printer to be proficient at in-house printing to offer a service for clients who didn’t have the time or tools to print in-house. From individual sign-makers to existing commercial print companies, Chaz Dobson, director of the company, says the business started small and local before now being able to dispatch white label print across the country and worldwide.
Today the company is still printing everything in-house, which enables it to obtain total control over every detail of the print from quality control and time management, to cost. Operating as a large-format printer, the company offers solutions in all types of printing, such as merchandising, storefront posters, and smaller floor stickers. The Print Hive also provides large-format banners, billboards and hoardings, vehicle wrap printing, event and trade show displays, amongst other things. Always keen to keep up with the latest printing trends, the business is constantly looking for new methods of bringing its in-house printing to customers.
All this work is being performed by just three members of staff, operating out of a 220sq m print production facility in Somerset. The company has invested heavily in single man machinery, with equipment like the RollsRoller graphics applicator and the Summa F Series flatbed cutter reducing the need for manual labour and helping to accelerate the production of orders to just a few days in most cases.
The Print Hive comprises just three members of staff who operate out of a 220sq m print production facility in Somerset
In recent times The Print Hive has invested in a new Roland XR-640, allowing it to offer white ink printing up to 1.6m in width. Thanks to this update in technology, Dobson says the company can offer sharper and more refined results through its professionally finished stickers and labels.
Big offerings
Putting customers first is a belief that The Print Hive firmly holds as it looks to make large-format printing a much smoother operation for its clients.
Dobson explains: “We take the hassle out of print, we act as the silent partner, the team in the background. We think outsourcing print should be easy, hassle-free and most of all profitable for our customers. A lot of trade printers ‘specialise’ in one area of the market, banner or fabric printing for example, we see ourselves as a one-stop-shop catering for projects of any size, offering all from wall coverings and wall art to point-of-sale displays and posters.
We think outsourcing print should be easy, hassle free, and most of all profitable for our customers”
“Our bread and butter work has always been our large-format printing service, but we have recently seen a shift within the industry into the interior décor market. As a result, we now offer a full range from acrylic shower wall panels, wallpapers and wall murals, printed roller blinds, ceramic tile splashbacks, HD metal and canvas wall art and decorative printed window films.”
Dobson attributes the company’s recent success to the updated tech and software it has invested in
Looking back on a decade in the industry, Dobson says it’s been a process to get to this stage, with new consumer avenues always being welcomed. “The business has gone from strength to strength over the past ten years. There have been a lot of learning curves along the way and things haven’t always gone to plan, but we have learnt from these experiences and built upon them. We now have an established and loyal client base and always welcome new customers to work with us.”
Investing in technology
Having such a small workforce can always prove to be a risk, especially when competitors boast large teams with much more manpower, but a strong work ethic coupled with a serious investment in technology has led The Print Hive to be able to offer competitive pricing, where quick trade turnarounds can get completed on time with the highest standards of finishes. According to Dobson, the company works with “the best kit in the industry” and pairing this with the latest production software, allows the small-knit team to track orders from start to completion.
With the boom in wallpaper printing and home décor continuing, a notable service offered by The Print Hive is its exclusive online designer tool that lets the user create and visualise their own personalised printed wallpaper in any room of a house. The user can add details such as size of wall, fixtures and furniture, and see a personalised quotation where they can place an order using HP cloud-based software. Once completed an email will be sent out and a member of The Print Hive team will contact to discuss payment and delivery details.
Dobson attributes the company’s recent success to the updated tech and software that it has put faith in, explaining that the integration of the Summa barcode system has resulted in the production of “seamless automatic print”. Summa’s user-friendly patented barcode workflow works in tandem with the Summa roll cutter meaning that operator intervention isn't needed, and instead time and effort can be spent elsewhere within the company.
Printing green
The growth of the company has been steady over the last decade, from a spare bedroom to an outlet in Somerset and the steady rise of The Print Hive is something for most start-ups to admire and aspire to. Yet, the running of any business is never without challenges.
Dobson says: “Brexit, Covid, and the war in Ukraine have caused challenges with a lot of economic uncertainty and the increase in the cost of raw materials and shipping. We have a great working relationship with our suppliers and have worked closely with them to minimise these increases. Our customers acknowledge that price increases are inevitable, but they trust us to provide quality print using quality media and this goes a long way.”
The environment and the topic of sustainability is another important and ongoing issue and in the decade it has been in operation The Print Hive has seen a considerable change in attitudes across the industry. What was once acceptable in 2012 is now justifiably becoming outdated, and the industry as a whole is seeing sustainability practices being viewed as one of the most important factors a company can take into consideration.
On what’s in store for the future, Dobson adds: “We would like to continue to become a more environmentally conscious business and help others to do so through their choice of print. We introduced our range of green and sustainable print solutions at the start of 2022 which is a mix of PVC-free, ethically sourced, FSC certified and recycled products from banner, vinyl, wallcoverings, and display boards.”
Your text here...
