As founder of Cypher Digital Paul Calland bought his first wide-format printer in 1995. The company’s merger into the H&H Group last year bolsters its position in the market as he explains.
Until spring last year H&H Reeds Printers in Milnthorpe, Cumbria, was known as Cypher Digital. Now, the company that was formed in 1995 as an imagesetting and production artwork bureau, is part of H&H Group plc and its network of nine business units spread throughout the north
of England and covering not just print but farm stock sales,
land and property, finance and auction companies. The former Cypher business is one of three H&H Reeds Printers operations – the other two being the former Albany Signs in Carlisle and litho printer Reeds in Penrith, also acquired by H&H in recent years.
For Cypher founder Paul Calland, the company’s buyout has been somewhat fortuitous and key to future growth. “The peak of Cypher’s business was about three years ago and then the recession really hit us. We started losing ground against bigger competitors showing up higher on Google etc. In 2010 we had 18 staff and a turnover of around £1m – we were too small to be a big company but too large to be a small company and we realised that the best way forward was to join forces with another company,” he says.
“H&H approached us because they must have heard that we were farming out some litho work. They had previously bought litho printer Reeds and said that if they could get some of our litho they’d send some large-format our way so we started talking synergies. They bought Albany Signs, a traditional sign maker really but doing some large-format, and realised they needed more capacity so merged Cypher into the H&H group at the end of March 2012.
“We saw immediate benefits. The minute we joined forces we saw digital substrate prices fall due to economies of scale. Plus, we have financial backing like we’ve never had before, so now we can look at technologies that we think will make us money going forward but that we’ve had to reign back from so far; the situation gives us more spending power that really effects what we buy. And then there’s a great pool of knowledge across the three print businesses which means we can really throw ideas around – and we have really good business mentors within the group.”
So the future’s looking bright for the operation Calland founded as a natural progression from his background in filmsetting. “I was an airbrush illustrator originally then worked for a graphics supplier in Harrogate doing imagesetting. I was made redundant and worked for an AppleCentre in the Lake District where I set up an imagesetting bureau, but I was trying to sell service, film and Apple Mac kit which ended up being in competition with each other. So I left and set up Cypher in ’95. Even then I could see that the imagesetting days were about over and knew we needed something else to offer so within weeks of opening I went and bought my first bit of wide-format kit – an Encad Novajet.
“That was our first proper printer, otherwise we were just doing a bit of colour laser printing and copying. As soon as we got the Encad we realised we needed a laminator, so we bought one of those too. Within that first year turnover, which was around £60,000, wide-format print already accounted for about half of it. We carried on imagesetting for three or four years but even in the second year of operation large-format had grown to 70% of turnover – mainly general posters – on photopaper and on foamboard which was then laminated. About 18 months after setting-up pop-up stands started coming through and within five years we realised we needed to move to a bigger premises.”
Cypher moved into what’s now the H&H Reeds Printers site in the little town of Milnthorpe. At that time the unit was 279m2 (3000sq ft), now it’s more like 418m2 (4500sq ft) having had another floor built in.
“At one point we also rented another space nearby but the recession put pay to that,” reflects Calland, who despite the continuing economic gloom is very positive about the company’s future, largely because of the merger but also because of its proven ability to change and diversify.
“Being in The Lakes, the local customer base is quite static. And businesses find it hard to start-up here because it’s really difficult to get planning permission, so to grow we’ve had to look at gaining clients from outside the area,” stresses Calland. “The Internet has been a great tool there. Having a website was something we started looking at early on so we always had an online price list and things like that. And the site has brought in some unusual business. One of our best clients for instance is a photographer in the Falklands. She does tourist stuff and has a gift shop on the island and she found us on the Internet. We’ve also just rebranded the Falklands airport using 2 x 1m Dibond and Foamex panels sent out on a military jet from RAF Brize Norton!”
And the company is not adverse to trialing new technology to see what potential growth opportunities there are, making it something of a test centre for various kit manufacturers. “Cypher grew quite gently doing posters, pop-up and banner stands for exhibitions but we’d seen other stuff we wanted to get into so when we came to this current site, where we had more space, we rapidly transitioned through technology,” says Calland.
“We had a 36in and a 42in Novajet then bought two 60in HP5000 machines to enable us to do bigger print pieces for the indoor market and a couple of years later beta tested the 2.6m Grand Sherpa Universal because we were playing around with textiles. Then we started looking at the outdoor market and got the solvent HP 9000 as a stopgap because UV still wasn’t right. In 2010 we swapped that for a 60in HP L25500 latex printer because I really don’t like solvent.”
That now sits alongside an HP Designjet 26100 and Epson 9880 to form the company’s large-format printer arsenal. It also has Xerox machines to provide some small-format output. But it’s not all about the print. The company has offered a design element since 1997, with a specialist unit set-up two years later. “Initially we had a design arm but didn’t really shout about it because we didn’t want to tread on peoples’ toes. But we find we’re dealing more direct with customers these days and being able to offer a design service in a real plus point,” says Calland.
He is now digital director at H&H Reed Printers and sits on the H&H Group board of 22 directors. “In this position I can see that there’s very little H&H Reeds can’t print and that gives us a real fighting weight,” enthuses Calland, explaining that not only do the group’s three print operations work with each other but that all nine H&H business units inter-trade were relevant.
“The one-stop shop approach springs to mind,” he says. “If we can deliver what a customer wants we will. For instance, we build and sell iPad stands and brand them with print. And we sell screens that can be integrated with print; something that’s taken a lot of time to develop because we’ve had to source them from China and you need to be sure you’re not going to have an issue with them going wrong. And you need to know you can provide support on site if needed etc.
“There are lots of emerging opportunities. At the moment consolidation is key because our merger with H&H is still relatively new. But things are settling and we’re having meetings to discuss what directions we go in.”
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