BCQ</a has bought Hunts creating what Timon Colegrove, chief executive of Hunts, calls “a formidable business”.
Hunts is located in Kidlington, north of Oxford and BCQ</a is close to Buckingham only 20 miles distant. It runs a Komori Lithrone 529 H-UV, one of the first of its type in the UK, and Heidelberg Anicolor as well as digital and large format Arizona. It has pushed a value added model for print with a bright approach to the building and running seminars for print buyers to promote the creative applications it can deliver.
These extend beyond print. Skim is a virtual reality reality app that Hunts has developed. It uses links embedded in a print image to start a video and has earned the company an innovation award. Hunts also won the marketing excellence award in the Oxfordshire Business Awards for 2017.
Staff will be offered jobs at BCQ’s plant, and tours for Hunts’ people have already begun says BCQ</a group managing director Chris Knowles:: “It has seemed like a logical fit. Their plant and equipment is not to the same level as we have. They would have needed to invest heavily in the next year or so to keep up.
“We have been running very lean on double day shifts in anticipation of completing this deal. We can now move to 24 hour working taking on their people.”
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BCQ has also joined the move to adopt new generation UV, installing a Speedmaster XL75 LED-UV two other multi-colour XL75s at the end of last year, alongside HP Indigos and Scodix S75 digital embellishment press. There is a therefore a similar outlook, but there are no customers in common.
“Considering the proximity of the businesses, there is no cross over in clients,” says Knowles. “We can go to their customers and tell them that we can say Yes to what they need a lot more often. “
The combined group will have a turnover of more than £15 million, from litho, digital and large format print. BCQ</a has an extensive large format operation running as JollyBig from premises in Milton Keynes. It also runs BCQ Direct as a mailing operation.
Knowles says: “I am excited by the opportunity that this brings to the group. Each company is already individually strong with a great track record and the combined mix of high end litho, digital, wide format, warehousing, fulfilment and online ability, will further enhance our already compelling offering to an enlarged customer base.”
Colegrove, who will continue with the business for a handover period at least, adds: “The synergies between Hunts and BCQ</a are numerous, such that it made sense to bring the companies together. Chris has a good team around him. Combined, it will be a formidable business.”
There is no date for completion of the move of people across to BCQ, though it will not be an extended period says Knowles. “I have been talking to staff, getting to know them and starting to talk to the Hunts customers. My plan is to visit them and show them what we can do.”
BCQ</a is buying Hunts to create a print and marketing group with revenues of £15 million and capacity across litho, digital and large format print. Knowles says he is excited by the opportunities that will follow.
