Vision Park, Burnley’s latest hi-spec business space, is delighted to welcome one of UK’s leading digital print production companies, Production Print Direct Limited (PP Direct), to the innovation hub.
PP Direct signed up for their 2,500 sq.ft. hi-spec unit earlier in the year and they’ve created a modern showroom, offices, and large service space with a mezzanine for future expansion and events since taking up occupation of their unit.
Managing Director, Mike Ashforth said: “We’ve taken quite lot of space at Vision Park to prepare us for the next stage of our growth. One of the aspirations for moving into Vision Park was to give us room to grow and allow us to open up from supplying and servicing the commercial print market into the office market.”
Adding: “The prestigious aspect of the site is what attracted us to Vision Park. It’s got the look and feel of a prestigious location. We liked the development from the outset– it had the space we needed to create our vision, with no constraints, and Burnley Council were extremely flexible in supporting our plans.
“The proximity of Vison Park to Burnley College and the UCLan university campus was another influential factor as we felt it was something that could help the business in the future, being located in such close proximity to such a good resource and possibly our future workforce.”
Service Director, Tony Molloy added: “The main reason behind the move and investment is to allow us to set the ball rolling with our next stage of our planned growth to move into the office print market.”
Mike and his team have a strong history in the digital print industry and the business growth is attributed to this strong background and the understanding of how the machines need operate in the environment where they are being put to work.
Service response based delivery to the commercial print industry. With highly skilled and highly trained engineers who understand what commercial print operators need their equipment to do.
Mike talks about the fast-changing market for digital print requirements, saying: “Digitally printed pages continue to grow at a rate that exceeds the decline in litho and will continue to do so for many years. Print buyers need their print service provider to have on demand capability, responding to their fast-changing communication requirements. The trend that is set to continue for years is that digital volumes are growing rapidly due to the on-demand nature of customer needs. Order today- print today -deliver tomorrow is fast becoming the norm.
“Our technicians are trained to the highest standards and work within the print for pay industry giving our customers the confidence to explore machine capabilities and work with us to overcome challenging medias, files and timescales. Transferring these skills and experience to the office print market will ensure that all customers always receive a ‘best in class’ service provision.
“Our range of new cut-sheet presses and multifunctional devices (MFD’s) from Canon and Develop along with roll fed and flatbed inkjet devices from Mimaki provides professional printers and MFD users alike, with a huge range of industry leading technologies that offer quality, reliability and productivity to grow your business.
“The opportunities for commercial printers to be part of this exciting revival are enormous and having the right equipment is critical. For office print users, PP Direct offer industry leading service levels, equipment and expertise under our newly created Office Print Direct (OP Direct) branding.”
Burnley Council Leader, Mark Townsend said: “I’m delighted to welcome PPDirect to this prestigious business hub. Evolve at Vision Park has created 40 new jobs since it opened in January this year, and is set to create many more quality jobs in Burnley as we develop phases II and III. The council is working with Trebor Developments to bring forward the next phase, offering more quality space to attract hi-tech digital and advanced manufacturing businesses to the borough.”
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About Vision Park:
Vision Park represents an opportunity to relocate to one of the most exciting commercial developments in the Lancashire region.
The 5 acre (2.02 hectare) development provide a high quality industrial accommodation and advanced manufacturing hybrid accommodation for a wide variety of occupiers with bespoke design and build solutions to suit.
Phase One was completed in January 2018 providing a range of industrial units from 825 sq. ft. to 5,500 sq. ft. The quality of built environment and finished product will be underpinned by the skilled and diverse labour pool within the region. Vision Park represents an opportunity to relocate to the most exciting commercial development in the Lancashire region.
The Vision Park Development has been supported by a grant from LEP’s £320m Growth Deal.