Located close to the famous Salford Quays, Seymour Sign & Print began life in 2010 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading vehicle signage specialists in the Manchester area. The business previously focused on both small- and large-format print but has changed direction over the past few years to become a more specialised signage company.

Print very much remains a large part of the business, along with commercial vehicle branding, window graphics and internal branding among its services. As such, Seymour Sign & Print needs to work with printing machines that can produce applications across this varied offering.

The company was running a print-and-cut machine from another manufacturer but had encountered issues that meant it had not been able to produce work as efficiently and confidently as it would have liked. This ultimately led to delays in getting work to customers.

After speaking with Mick Hartley, Sales Manager at approved HP dealer Pyramid Display, Seymour Sign & Print soon identified the HP Latex 335 as the ideal replacement. The company pushed ahead with the purchase from Pyramid Display and installed the machine at its Manchester site in August 2023.

David Hammond, Director at Seymour Sign & Print and co-founder of the business alongside his father Paul, said despite the printer having only been in place a matter of weeks, the company has already experienced a significant improvement and renewed confidence in production.

“The HP Latex 335 has facilitated shorter lead times for our customers,” David said. “We’re now confident in being able to consistently print, laminate and cut a job ahead of the installation. If for any reason we need to perform a reprint, we’re no longer waiting in excess of 24 hours to finish it."

“We’ve also been able to fill some days with installations thanks to the ability to print and finish without the waiting for outgassing.

“Another hidden benefit we didn’t anticipate is the front loading of the machine. Within 24 hours of the machine being installed, we’d rearranged the workshop, giving us more useable floorspace in the installation area. This means no more squeezing between the machinery and vehicles.”

David also spoke about the environmental benefits of switching to an HP Latex printer. All machines in the HP Latex range use water-based HP Latex Inks, which are much kinder to the environment than their solvent, eco-solvent and UV counterparts.

“We have spoken to a number of customers to explain more about these environmental credentials, and several have expressed an interest in more sustainable print, which we can now deliver with the HP Latex 335,” David said.

Such has been the impact of the new HP Latex 335 that David said morale at Seymour Sign & Print is incredibly high.

“We’re back in love with our work; the passion is back and despite some reservations about making the move to Latex, I’m absolutely blown away with it,” David said. “The support from other HP Latex users is brilliant, almost like a family, and the assistance and support from Pyramid Display has been second to none.”