New Durst doubles Leach’s print capacity at Huddersfield

Leach has doubled the print capacity of its 30,000m2 Huddersfield site with a new Durst Rhotex 325.

The £500,000 investment is the company’s first major investment since it was acquired by French-owned Chargeurs in the spring. It means Leach can now achieve a 500m² per hour print rate. “As demand from the retail, exhibition and heritage sectors continues to rise, we are passionate about being able to help more clients, as quickly as we can, without any detriment to quality,” said MD James Lavin. “The addition of this equipment means that we now have technology capable of satisfying virtually any print brief, regardless of budget, environmental agendas, lighting specification and material preferences.” At 6.5m wide x 4.5m deep, the Durst Rhotex 325 produces graphics up to 3m wide and of any length and joins other Durst machines at Leach - the company having hit the headlines in March 2016 when it bought the UK’s first Durst Rho 512R for UV ink printing on superwide graphics up to 5m. Lavin said of the new printer: “This is a dual-purpose system which can alternate between direct-to-textile and transfer printing, meaning maximum flexibility for our busy team moving forwards. When the printer and sublimating technology arrived at our Huddersfield HQ, it took a full week to install and configure, but we were ready to accommodate the machine without any disruption. We’d also revised some of our wider factory layout in readiness and have achieved further operational efficiencies as a result - this is crucial as we prepare for additional growth.”