Direct Print & Promotions in Sheffield is responding to growing demand for garment printing and embroidery by moving to much larger premises.
It is set to relocate from its current 1,700 sq ft base into a nearby unit covering two floors, with a total space of nearly 4,000 square feet.
The family-run business, founded in 2014, has been steadily growing, expanding its team to nine people, and is currently on course to achieve turnover of over £500,000 by the end of this financial year. The forecast for 2022/23 is further growth of 30%.
“We are seeing growth in general so we’ve invested in new premises, new technology and new staff,” said director James Smith.
The move follows the launch of a new website just before Christmas, which added e-commerce functionality so that customers can order garments with their branding online.
James said he first saw the new unit in 2017 but it was too expensive and large for their needs at the time. Since then, it has had a mezzanine added, making it perfect for Direct Print & Promotions to have production on the ground floor and offices upstairs.
At present, the company has one Riley Hopkins four-colour manual screen print press, supplied by Screen Print World, plus a blast dryer, tunnel dryer and exposure unit.
It also has three single-head embroidery machines – two from Melco, one from Happy – plus a vinyl cutter, heat press and a Mimaki digital printer for transfers.
The move, from unit H5 to H12 within Sheaf Bank Business Park in the south of Sheffield, is expected to be completed by the end of February. “It’s great for us as we just have to put the machines on a trolley and wheel them down the estate,” James added.
Direct Print & Promotions plans to invest in more equipment, including more embroidery machines and a larger screen print press. James is also exploring direct-to-film (DTF) printing but expects to continue avoiding direct-to-garment (DTG) printing which does not suit the volumes and types of orders that the company deals with.
It offers all kinds of garment decoration, including workwear, as well as other promotional merchandise. Its garment brands include Regatta Professional, Russell Europe, Stormtech, Gildan, Portwest, Stanley/Stella and Result.
