House of Flags diversifies with Anapurna H2500i

The £4m-plus turnover company - which has three sites in the UK, including its Cambridgeshire headquarters - processes more than 7000 orders annually and has a turnover of over £4m. Since 1977 is has specialised in flags and soft signage, but installed the new Anapurna in June to expand its rigid substrates print offering.

The move follows the appointment earlier in the year of Adam Moore as studio and print production manager, tasked with investigating machinery that could help House of Flags diversify its product range. After investigating various options, and visiting i-Sub's demonstration suite to put the Agfa Anapurna H2500i LED through its paces, this hybrid UV LED-curable, 6-colour inkjet system was chosen.

"I was extremely impressed with the Agfa machine," said Moore. “The user interface was simple and user friendly and the machine itself is very versatile. We've gone for the 2.5m model as the 3.2m would have been a little bit too much machine for us at the present, but its performance has been out of this world and the installation was the quickest and easiest I've ever been involved with."

One particular attribute of the Agfa Anapurna that impressed House of Flags was its white ink channels. "With a lot of alternative machines, you need to flush through the white ink channels when you're not using them," Adam explains. "It can be a long and messy process. With the Agfa printer they've literally got it down to a switch and button. They've taken away a very messy job and you just don't find that on more ordinary machines."

The Agfa Anapurna has already opened up new opportunities for House of Flags, including the ability to print directly onto rigid boards and produce effects like window manifestations - applied to any expanse of glass offering the opportunity for branding and/or decoration. 

Moore said the company would likely investigate new finishing options on its digital cutting table to assist with its rigid materials output.