A new technology supplier is aiming to bring “clarity, independence and commercial sense back to the old of commercial print”. Connect Print is intended to be an antidote to larger businesses with strong or exclusive arrangements to single suppliers.
This has resulted in a poor service says the business founded towards the end of last year by ex-Xeretec director Warren Beard and Jason Bryant who has worked for Advanced UK, Konica Minolta and Landall Services as well as Xeretec. The pair have since been joined by Paul Stead, latterly of ASL, Smart Print and Apogee Corporation.
Independence will enable the trio to select the best combination of machinery and software for any customer rather than being forced to sell what the manufacturer has even if not entirely suited to that customer. So far Connect Print has deals to sell equipment from Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Canon, Kyocera and Xerox with finishing technology from Duplo, Morgana and Vivid and software including XMPie and Vpress. This will be expanded as the business grows. Fujifilm for example is missing from the list, likewise suppliers of large format
“We intend to remain flexible,” says Stead. “We have all found that as companies get bigger they can get bogged down by internal systems, where the terms and conditions on a service contract become more important than serving the customer.”
The business has offices in Theale near Reading but the focus will be on being in front of customers. “For us it’s about getting out to listen to printer and finding the piece of kit to make their lives a bit easier,” says Stead.
In the early weeks and months as the business becomes established, engineering support will be provided by the manufacturers of the equipment. Connect Print though is already thinking of building a team of engineers to support customers, particularly where there has been a level of integration.
