The Big Display Company aims to further diversify its print offering in the interior décor market on the back of recent investment in HP printers.
The Slough-based company, established 12 years ago - and born out of Bullseye, founded in 1978 to supply trophies and printed garments - focuses on wide-format print for the trade. The emergence of Covid-19 led to a sudden change in direction as clients demanded social distancing floor stickers etc. In response, The Big Display Company - which has had HP printers for several years, including two HP Scitex Industrial Printers and three HP Latex 570 machines - installed an additional HP Latex 570 in June 2020.
As demand for floor graphics skyrocketed, investment was made in further printers. "We spoke with Papergraphics and they recommended an HP Latex 3600 that had barely been used," said marketing director Jack Murphy. "We did the maths and discovered that it would give us higher output and speed with reduced running costs."
The Big Display Company installed the HP Latex 3600 in July 2020, allowing it to produce between five and six rolls of 3.2m-wide banner each day.
The firm also saw a massive increase in demand for face coverings and bought a HP Stitch S500 dye-sub printer from RA Smart in November 2020.
While work related to Covid-19 was the main focus for The Big Display Company in 2020, it is now planning for other applications for when demand for face coverings and floor stickers slows down.
MD Vince Murphy said the HP Latex 3600 will be used to support the company with its growth plans within the interior décor market, and describes the device as being “impeccable” for producing wallcoverings. He said it would also allow the company to bring work-in house that it had previously outsourced to mainland Europe, important now that Brexit has been finalised.
"The HP Latex 3600 does double-sided print unbelievably well," explained Murphy. "Previously we were outsourcing double-sided print over 1,500mm to a company in Europe. Since bringing that work in-house we have reduced turnaround times for this type of print massively. And that's even more beneficial when you consider the potential for further delays with regards to ports, and possible issues with tax."