Bluetree invests for faster response and introduces next online print channel

Bluetree already runs Route 1 for trade printers and the B2C Instantprint brand and now it is aiming at larger print management buyers.

Bluetree Group, the umbrella for the Instantprint and Route 1 online print channels, is launching Bluetree Connect as a third online brand.

This will target large corporate buyers and print management with reduction in administration and transactional costs the key to this sector.

Group managing director Adam Carnell says: “The launch of Bluetree Connect is a major strategic move for our business. We have seen exceptional results for both instantprint and Route 1 Print by offering standardised products and we believe this approach will also appeal to print management companies.

“We’ve invested heavily in the latest generation of equipment and systems this year to remove admin and manual ordering, so our clients can place orders faster and more conveniently than ever before.”

The company anticipates reaching £30 million in sales this year. As well as Bluetree Connect, the group plans to introduce a faster delivery service following investment in new capital equipment.

The business has spent more than £20 million in the last couple of years, moving to a £100,000m² plant near Rotherham and installing presses, including an HP Indigo 10000 and finishing equipment, including a Horizon SmartStacker linked to that B2 digital press.

It has now returned to Horizon’s UK dealer IFS to order three of the new StitchLiner Mk III stitching lines ahead of its official UK launch at Ipex. The stickers will be delivered to the factory in July. These will replace a conventional Muller Martini saddle stitcher and enable the faster turnaround.

“We want to introduce a 24-hour service and to do that we need to enhance our short run book production. We need it to be faster and to meet the demand for shorter run work,” says Route 1 brand manager Jack Wilmott.

Production director Jim Swain was part of a customer trip to Horizon’s European head quarters near Hamburg where the StitchLiner III was put through its paces, switching formats almost instantly and delivering a wide range of products including A4 landscapes at 6,000cph.

The new HT-1000V trimmer will be part of its perfect book production, operating alongside a BQ470 which was installed last year, and eliminating a bottleneck that the speed of the binder had created.