Durst P10 central to relocating wallpaper business

A Durst P10 is the centrepiece of a £1m investment by an entrepreneur relocating a wallcovering design printing business from Hong Kong to the UK in a bid to grow markets in Europe and the US.

David Qian’s £3m turnover business combines bespoke hand-painted and embroidered wall coverings and digitally printed designs. His wallpaper designs retail on average at £150m2 and are customised to meet the demands of major brands that include five-star hotels. A rapid growth in digital printing and a desire to be closer to US customers has led to Qian to Nottingham where he is setting up a production hub. Initial wallpaper print tests have been completed successfully with full-scale production due to start soon. Qian’s company started as a hand-painting business 20 years ago in Hong Kong, where production remains for the Asia market. Digital printing began in 2010. “Digital printing is the next step for the wallpaper industry - it’s the future. We are really satisfied with the high-end quality from the P10,” said Qian. “With a previous system we had problems with colour-matching, which cost us time and money. But the Durst machine has been an absolute revelation. It is really important for us, particularly as digital printing is now 50% of our business.”