HP aims high with first UK Print Station opening
“Rather than being a printer company HP will become a printing company” was the bold announcement of Phil Oakley, HP UK and Ireland manager covering the Designjet space, at the official opening of the UK’s first HP Print Station within John E Wright at its Nottingham city centre site on Monday (6 June).
“We believe printed content will explode and as we’re becoming a service-based culture we want people to buy into a service not just a product. HP Print Station is a service that we can offer through our print partners,” added Oakley.
Both he and Paolo Dal Santo, EMEA sales manager for HP Print Station, were keen to stress that this offering is not a franchise, though it will be a branded “print café” style walk-in outlet providing a range of services to small business, students etc. It will be linked to online template libraries etc. for remote access too.
Ten HP Print Stations are expected to be open in the UK by the end of the year. John E Wright (JEW), which is effectively acting as a “middle man” in expanding the HP Print Station concept in the UK, will open HP Print Centres in its own UK sites, with Leicester and Northampton next on the list. The company expects the rest of the first ten outlets to be opened by other print businesses that belong to the Graphic Dealers Limited (GDL), of which it is also a member. JEW will work with HP to then identify other potential HP Print Station outlets.