The recent Company merger between Mercia Image Print, Little Eaton, and The Print Design Factory (Sheffield) has created a whole new market to help springboard the company’s recovery after COVID-19 caused havoc to their hospitality and retail industry sales.
When the fight against COVID-19 started biting, just over 12 months ago, Mercia Image found their order book for promotional print, especially from the hospitality and retail sector disappear.
“A big chunk of business had vanished overnight” recalls Amanda Strong, Managing Director, “so we had to think on our feet, juggle furlough with production and find new products to fill the gap and secure our future”.
Like so many other companies, the future looked very bleak, until a determined focus and innovation into product packaging led to the securing of large orders for Rapid Flow Testing Kits and online retail packaging.
After further diversification into packaging, Mercia developed significant new orders through quarter 3, with contracts from all over Derby, Including producing bespoke boxes for innovative companies including The Colleague Box and Solesmith. “We were kept busy producing new innovative packaging, that creates the right impression, for a multitude of customers and business sectors” added Paul Ross, Sales Director.
Success never goes unnoticed so, after over 30 successful years as Derby’s most successful and established Commercial Printer, Amanda was approached by THE PRINT DESIGN FACTORY (Sheffield) with an offer to buy the company. The sale was completed back in October 2020 and the businesses successfully merged, bringing lots of new opportunities for the Little Eaton based business.
The ‘partnership’ gave Mercia a whole new team of print professional to work alongside, even more print presses to print with and the ability to offer the full printing package including: Digital, B3, B2 and B1 litho printing.
Since then, the ‘new company’ has rooted itself into the community by not only providing print and design but also by being able to offer a fully bespoke packaging service both locally and nationally. Paul Ross continued ““One of our most recent jobs, Echo cartons, for Henry & Company, Burton on Trent, were printed in 4 colour process, on a 540micron box board, soft touch laminated, die-cut out to shape and glued – all produced ‘in house’ at our factory in Little Eaton” Kathyrn, the buyer from Henry & Company, was delighted with the result confirming ‘’We received the cartons and they looked fantastic!”
Mercia Image can print anything from a single poster to a full promotional brochure offering the complete print package. They can also produce a ‘personalised mailing’ posted directly to customers along with any type of product in any type of packaging.
Amanda Strong, who has been at the helm of Mercia for over thirty years, continues to be ‘the face of the Mercia Image Print’ in her new role, as Company Ambassador. Craig Ikin, the Group Commercial Director, added “We are delighted to welcome Mercia to our Group and look forward to maintaining and building on Mercia’s reputation as the leading print provider in Derby “
Heading towards summer 2021, the future certainly looks brighter than it did last year for Mercia Image, with the diversification into bespoke packaging and with the retail and hospitality sectors now returning. As those industries get going again, things are certainly looking rosy, endorsing the fact that, we are indeed …. stronger together!”.
