Technical support provider Tech8 is to merge with Colorific, a supplier of alternative inks. The merger, due to be finalised on 1 June, will strengthen the strategic alliance announced between the two businesses last year.
Shaun Holdom, Colorific’s business manager, said: “The ink market has changed substantially with the widespread acceptance of alternative ink solutions such as those offered by Colorific. On the back of this our partners are now pushing for us to broaden our portfolio with additional inks offerings.
"We saw the need for a dedicated R&D resource to add the necessary pace to fully exploit these opportunities - so the absorption of Tech8 as an in-house R&D facility can only help in achieving these goals. It will also allow us to cut the time to market for any new inks.”
Following the merger, the Tech8 brand will continue and sales activity will be focused on positioning Tech8 as a reliable and cost-effective wholesale provider of printer spares.
Justin Atkinson, business manager at Tech8, said: “With our engineering resource focused exclusively on Colorific R&D, we will free up a lot of administrative and commercial time to further develop our successful wide-format printer spares business. We will be announcing, amongst other things, details of a new e-commerce platform in the near future and the continued development of our international partner channel.”
Tech8’s warranty business customers in the UK have already received notice that warranty cover will no longer be available as a service from Tech8 as of 1 June 2012 though the company said much work has been done in the background to provide contingency for these customers via a reputable and established alternative warranty provider.