The acquisition of Realt Paper is set to make EBB the largest merchant in the Irish market. Realt will continue to trade from its Swords premises and EBB Ireland from Rathcoole and Belfast. During 2024 EBB plans to integrate Realt Sales within the EBB logistics network to offer enhanced services and products.

Matt Elliott, EBB’s group managing director stated, ‘Since we entered the Irish market with our acquisition of UniBoard back in 2019, Realt has always been on our radar due to the excellent reputation they have.

‘Our new combined strength, backed up by our UK stock and resources, will see improved choice and better service to all our Irish customers.’

Realt’s managing director Ger Barron commented, ‘We are excited to join EBB Ireland, a 100-year-old family business with a similar culture. We look forward to developing new products and business areas and constantly improving our offering to the Irish market. The future is bright, and we are ready for all the opportunities it brings.’

Chris Sandwell, EBB’s group sales and marketing director added, ‘EBB is committed to the Irish market and in developing a local team to drive and manage the business into the future. The paper and board market are in constant change and with that comes challenge and opportunity. We believe the combined entity offers the best chance for EBB to support all of the local markets.’

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Manufacturer of inkjet printers and cutting technologies, exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by Hybrid Services, Mimaki Europe has looked to long serving Mr Terashima to take the company forward.

Starting his career at Mimaki in 1997 as part of the R&D department, Mr Terashima has developed his knowledge of Mimaki’s technology portfolio and the surrounding market over the past 26 years.

Prior to his new role, Mr Terashima was senior general manager of the Asia Oceania business unit, a position he first started in 2017. Formerly to this, he spent six months as senior deputy general manager of quality management between April and October 2017.

Mr Terashima’s career path has also led him to work beyond Mimaki’s headquarters in Japan, in positions across the company’s branches. He spent four years as managing director of Mimaki Singapore between 2013 and 2017, and he also worked at Mimaki USA early in his career as part of the technical support staff.

Mimaki Europe’s new managing director aims to bring his industry expertise, analytical thinking, business, and team-building skills, as well as his extensive company knowledge, to this new role.

Excited by this latest challenge, Mr Terashima commented, ‘Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the European headquarters, we can look back on the past two decades proudly, thanks to the ongoing hard-work and effort of the team.

‘Looking to the future, it is key to ensure our principles of innovation, collaboration, and sustainability continue to drive us to provide excellence for our customers.

‘Being part of this company and the print industry for over 25 years, I am committed to taking Mimaki into the next 20 years of success.’

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Komori is eager to leverage its presence and market expertise, aiming for growth through its expansion into the UK and Ireland. Previous UK and Ireland distributor Friedheim stepped back from the brand’s hardware sales in early 2023, though it says it is still offering service and spares.

The new partnership builds on its experiences in France, where Komori France has reached a similar agreement with Bograma.

The collaboration also adds a dimension to its existing H+H and MBO (Komori Group) product portfolio, which Friedheim similarly continues to support and service though it stopped selling in 2020. Through incorporating Bograma into its network, Komori UK believes it can offer an even broader range of finishing solutions to existing and new customers.

Bograma, in parallel, has demonstrated its commitment by extending its factory facilities and investing in infrastructure. This expansion aligns with Komori UK’s and underscores both companyies joint commitment to providing printing and finishing solutions.

Enthused about the expanded partnership, national sales specialist postpress Tom Baker at Komori stated, ‘Our collaboration with Bograma in the UK and Ireland is a testament to our commitment to delivering high quality finishing solutions to our customers.

‘By joining forces, we aim to bring a wider array of innovative finishing options, further strengthening our position as a trusted leader in the printing industry.’

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After holding annual virtual showcases, Tecnau will stage a physical presentation of its technology. Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS), Tecnau’s UK and Ireland distribution partner, will host UK operations looking to develop their print production capabilities.

Attendees will be able to see the latest integrated options in post-press paper handling automation for digital printing that support an array of applications, including transactional printing, transpromo, direct mail, publishing, graphic arts, books on demand and short runs.

The event will host live and virtual demonstrations of many of Tecnau’s feeding and finishing products for high-speed production digital presses. They include versions of the new Revolution 50 series for high-speed cutting and stacking of web-fed inkjet output, fully automated BookReady and Stack 1212 for cutting B2/B2+ press sheets down to finished size in a single pass, and a member of Tecnau’s Libra family of book finishing systems. Attendees will be able to participate in a networking forum with colleagues from across the industry.

Eric Keane, IFS managing director, commented, ‘After a couple of years of virtual Spring Forward with Tecnau events, this in-person opportunity will enable operations to explore up close and personal what Tecnau technology can deliver. Tecnau is widely recognised for its vital product development partnerships with customers and every major printer manufacturer. Its history and background in industrial automation has also enabled the development of customised solutions to support specific requests. This approach ensures the development of responsive solutions that meet today’s market demands and, in fact, several products have been inspired by customer requests. At this event UK operations will be able to see for themselves how they can drive their successful ongoing evolution.’

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GPMI is a paper merchant and has a strong and established position in the Irish market supplying both the commercial print and sign and display sectors. With warehouses and offices in Dublin and Belfast, GPMI has a turnover of around €28 million with 50 employees.

Michael Beever, CEO of the Premier Paper Group said, ‘GPMI is an exciting addition to the group and opens up a new geographical market for Premier. These latest acquisitions are consistent with our strategy of achieving good organic growth, based on our traditional paper merchanting foundations, together with selected acquisitions in new but complementary markets.’

GPMI managing director Enda Brophy added, ‘Being part of Premier will open up many opportunities for GPMI and will allow us to further develop our service offer and product choice to our customers. Being part of Premier and the wider global OVOL Japan Pulp & Paper Group gives our customers and suppliers confidence and reassurance of our commitment to the future of the print and graphical communications market. I am looking forward to starting the next phase of our development during 2023 as part of the Premier organisation.’

The company also recently acquired WBC and  Zulu.

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The 3.2m production speed printer is equipped with Konica Minolta heads, offering multi-roll capability, low energy consumption LED lamps, and eco green inks. With print speeds up to 120sqm/h, a two-pass printing process and a maximum resolution of 2160dpi, the machine uses CMYK, light cyan, light magenta and an optional white ink. Through the new partnership, the Jetrix LXiR320 will be driven by PrintFactory RIip and workflow software, which is already offered by Josero.

Ben Woodruff, sales manager, InkTec Europe, said, ‘Soyang/Josero is a great partner for the Jetrix LXiR320. It’s an opportunity to offer the model to a wider customer base, particularly for businesses based in the north who will now be able to see the machine in action at Soyang’s facility. I’m looking forward to working closely with the team to get the collaboration up and running and inviting Soyang customers to experience the LXiR320 for themselves.’

Sarah Winterbottom, group sales director, Soyang Group, added, ‘The Jetrix LXiR320 is the perfect addition as we grow our equipment offering and look for new ways to ensure our customers have access to the best solutions available. For businesses pursuing opportunities in new markets, this reliable, consistent, economical solution is ideal, and we can’t wait to start showing our existing customers and other interested parties what the LXiR320 is made of.’

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Mr Argent, who started his role at the end of August 2022, has almost 20 years of print experience and will be working for the digital print and chemicals division, reporting to head of inkjet Paul Fitch.

Mr Fitch said, ‘Building a strong sales team is key to support our current growth plan. James has gained a wealth of industry knowledge during his career having worked in various sectors of the print market. This experience will be a great asset to Agfa and in the support of our customer base. James comes with glowing credentials, he is well liked in the industry and I am really looking forward to working with him in our drive for continued growth.’

Mr Argent added, ‘I’m looking forward to growing partnerships and building long standing relationships in the South of England for Agfa’s inkjet solution. I am really impressed with the quality and performance of the Agfa engines, their ink innovations and the strong finance solution they personalise for their customers. I am looking forward to being a part of the Agfa team.’

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Steve Donegal has been appointed as regional sales manager, UK and Ireland, Rob Engelman will take over as regional sales manager, Benelux, Nordics and Baltics, whilst Fran Zanier joins as EMEA marketing manager.

Sharon Cohen, chief business officer, said, ‘With their leadership experience and market knowledge, Steve, Rob and Fran will be crucial in expanding our presence in the region and meeting our growth targets. In addition to new press sales, we’re delighted to see customers from both EMEA and NA acquiring a second press to meet demand. What’s more, and this is really exciting, we’re also seeing more and more big global brands now designing their campaigns and production requirements around medium run, high quality digital print – it genuinely feels like a new category of print has been born.’

The Landa portfolio of Nanographic printing presses is designed for short to medium run mainstream packaging and commercial jobs. Presses include the Landa S10 Nanographic Printing Press – a single-sided B1 designed for mainstream packaging and converting industries – and the Landa S10P Nanographic Printing Press, which is ideal for two-sided B1 general commercial printing.

Gil Oron, chief executive officer, Landa Digital Printing, said, ‘Our vision has always been to secure the role of print within the modern communication landscape, and for us, that meant introducing a new technology that could provide the flexibility to lower run lengths, increase sustainability, and drive new profitable services. As print volumes grow exponentially, it’s incredible to see Nanography’s impact on the market.’

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The Dublin, Ireland-based business, founded in 1976 as a manufacturer of exterior PVC and canvas coverings for machinery, vehicles and boats, has replaced old HP technology for the new 5m LED printer.

The dedicated roll-to-roll Vutek Q5r platform includes Y slitters – single or double-bladed – for separating multiple jobs on a single full-width roll in order to minimise media waste. An automated ‘roll and tape’ function takes printed cut sheets directly from the printer, rolls them into scrolls and tapes their edges with labels containing printed job information. Automatic Backlit capabilities support multi-roll cutting and slitting, enabling independent printing on each side of the material using a different print mode.

Supporting nine colours and offering a true resolution of 1200dpi, the Vutek Q5r is suitable for producing high quality images. Its ‘cool cure’ LED system extends the range of supported substrates to include lower cost and added-value materials. Glossy and matt coating modes in either selective or full flood provide print enhancement and a protective coating claimed to last for up to three years.

CoverUp’s operations director Anthony Byrne said, ‘The Q5r has instantly had an impact on production. It is really going to help us do what we do now but even better. PVC, canvas, Artex, vinyl and backlit – anything that’s possible to print – that’s what we’ll be doing.’

The company has since been experimenting printing UV images for lightboxes and blackout for display in addition to its usual digital dye sublimation output. Cover Up was the first in the world to purchase the Vutek FabriVU 340i, via CMYUK, in 2018 when the company was looking to replace its M-Tex printers.

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The company opted for ‘high spec eco wallcoverings and backlit materials’ from CMYUK to carry out an extensive remodelling and refurbishment at the site in the Irish capital. The project involved a ‘significant amount of demolition and reconstruction’ given that the office complex itself was first built in 1999 and Flutter wanted to transform it into a contemporary and collaborative working space.

Artworks Solutions, a turnkey supplier and partner to the design and construction industry, worked alongside Claremont Group Interiors to deliver the project. The companies produced a variety of graphics for key walls and lightboxes situated in communal areas throughout the seven storey, 164,000sqft building.

Seath Herbert, Artwork Solutions managing director, explained, ‘The client wanted a distinct ‘Flutter feel’ to its Dublin HQ. It wanted a concept that could be used across its worldwide offices to create an unmistakable and compelling Flutter environment.’

Artworks Solutions digitally printed graphics for more than 40 walls across all seven storeys of the building. Due to the large amount of print required, it was very keen to use products with an environmental edge and eventually opted for Kavalan Gecko 320GB and UFabrik Backlit Textile ECO FR, both exclusive to CMYUK. 

Kavalan Geko 320GB is a PVC-free recyclable polyester-based textile and is said to be an excellent sustainable alternative for single piece wallcoverings and display systems; UFabrik Backlit Textile ECO is a backlit textile produced from 100% recycled PET plastic bottle waste. 

Mr Herbert concluded, ‘In the past we’ve found inconsistencies and instability in eco products, they just didn’t seem to have had enough market testing. We’ve never had any production issues with the materials we specified for this project, and the installers like working with these too. It was the right time to put these products in front of this client. These products tick all the boxes for sustainability, performance integrity, and price point.’

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