East Sussex-based Simply Beautiful has invested in an Agfa Avinci CX3200 printer plus a Klieverik calender to bring dye sublimation work in-house for the first time.
The £300,000+ investment was made at the end of September 2023 and saw the installation of a mezzanine floor at the company’s Golden Cross site near Eastbourne. The first floor now houses the stitching and finishing equipment which has made space for the new 3.2m print engine and calender unit on the ground floor.
Established in 2011 by Michael Tyrrell, Simply Beautiful Print has six full-time staff and supplies exhibition contractors, advertising agencies and retailers with high quality graphics, point of sale and signage. From home office beginnings, the business now has an Agfa Anapurna H3200i LED UV printer, an HP 800W latex and a Canon iGaf printer, supported by a Kongsberg C64 Edge cutting table, Neschen laminator, application table and sewing machine with conveyor line, in addition to the new dye-sub printer and calender.
The initial contact with Agfa came in 2016 and led to the installation of the Anapurna printer the following year, which Mr Tyrrell says has ‘been a workhorse for us ever since’. This experience led him to choose the Avinci for the move into dye sublimation, which will be used for indoor and outdoor soft signage applications as well as interior decoration; the machine’s ability to print either direct to polyester-based fabrics or to transfer paper covers the widest range of applications.
Mr Tyrrell believes that this new investment will not only satisfy the current requirement for textile and fabric printing in house but will provide access to new customers and markets to grow the business. Adding an evening shift to maximise the use of the new equipment is currently under consideration.
