January / February 2023 28 xxxxx Solopress AAfter a period of significant investment, one thing that’s clear is that 2023 and beyond is going to see continued growth and expansion from Southend-on-Sea-based Solopress. Cutting its teeth in the industry as an online e-commerce company, Solopress has certainly expanded its offerings over the years and today provides an all-encompassing service as a job aggregator producing everything from litho printing, digital printing, high-speed inkjet printing, wide-format print, and also a range of merchandising items. Since current managing director Simon Cooper took over the reins back in 2019, the company has undergone continuous investment and development which has seen it physically expand into new neighbouring premises, as well as add a number of new equipment and technology to its line-up. This has enabled Solopress to expand its offering to trade printers as well as end-users, and remain competitive whilst weathering the storms that have faced the industry in recent times. We spoke with Cooper to find out what the past few years have looked like for Solopress, and the company’s ambitious plans for the coming years. A two-tiered approach Perhaps the most significant investment for Solopress since Cooper stepped into the role of managing director was its most recent. This saw the company invest almost £5m in new premises and B1 litho capabilities after a record year of investments all round in 2022. However, the strategic focus on expanding production capabilities began years before. Whilst he joined the company only four years ago, Cooper’s experience within the print industry spans almost three decades with the managing director first starting out due to his dad already being involved in the print industry. Since then, Cooper has worked in a number of roles within the industry, working his way up from sweeping floors to overseeing an entire business. “I’ve worked pretty hard and tried to be brave,” he says, adding: “I’ve said yes a lot, put in more effort than was Simon Cooper, managing director of Solopress joined the company in 2019 required, and step by step I kept learning and progressing over time.” Having made its name servicing enduser customers which are typically small businesses, Solopress has more recently expanded its offering to service trade printers, too. “Really Solopress was a one size fits all, so whether you were a small independent person ordering some invites for your own birthday party, or a marketing manager of a mid-sized business ordering some brochures for your company, you would pretty much get the same service,” Cooper explains. “Broadly speaking that was okay right up until we were trying to deal with resellers and I think for resellers you do need a different type of service.” Enter, Solopro. This offering enables resellers and trade customers to be looked after by a dedicated account manager that’s very experienced and has worked in the business for a long time. They have also worked in printing for a long time and therefore really understand the products and the processes and how to make sure that a project progresses really effectively throughout the company. “We’re also able to look very specifically at your account and give you discounts on the types of products that you order most frequently where the price is the most important variable rather than an option or a turnaround time, but actually hitting a specific price point,” Cooper continues. “We can help customers really uniquely set price lists on their most significant products where they’re ordering 2022 was a year of significant investment for Solopress and this strategy has been ongoing since managing director Simon Cooper joined the company in 2019. We visited the business to find out more We’ve become much more efficient in the work that we produce, and in the end that means we can be more competitive for our customers and pass on better pricing to them Relentless ambition £5m recent investment
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