China Print Supplies to supply Chinese printers to UK and Ireland

Wide-format print veteran, Scott Clutton, has launched a new company bringing high-quality printers from China to the UK and Ireland.

Clutton has been in the industry for 12 years having started out as an engineer at Signmaster Systems, and going on to be service manager for five years. Following this, he had a 12-month spell at Hybrid Services as an engineer before moving to CMYUK as a service manager for four years.

Over the past two years, Clutton has been self-employed working as an engineer contracting to the likes of Hybrid, Print Max, YPS, Sabur, and CMYUK.

China Print Supplies will operate out of a demo centre in Telford and the company has already secured partnerships with Graphtec GB, Fiery, and TSS Technology. All printers come with full installation and training along with lifetime telephone and remote support.

Initially, the company is focusing on a UV range including flatbed printers, UV roll-to-roll, UV hybrid, and small UV flatbeds. However, the company intends to expand its range as it grows into the textile market and DTF.

With printers being delivered from China, delivery times range from 20 to 60 days and China Print Supplies keeps parts, inks, and consumables in the UK for next day delivery. The company also intends to add stock of printers as it grows.

The idea for the new venture came about when Clutton stumbled across a small flatbed printer on LinkedIn by accident.

“It caught my attention as it looked better than the Mimakis I was currently installing,” Clutton says, adding: “I made a few enquiries with that company and was then soon contacted rather magically by some other Chinese companies. All of this opened my eyes to the possibility that the Chinese market was vastly different to my perception.”

Following this, Clutton decided to go to Shanghai to see the printers for himself at APPP Expo. “What I found was a lot of manufacturers with very similar kit that wasn’t especially great and all seemed to be focused on each other.

“There were a select few however that clearly had an eye on competition from around the world and were producing better solutions than currently offered by your traditional big brands.”

Clutton decided to go with SinoColor DG due to the quality of its range, and signed an exclusivity deal, ordering his first two machines.

The focus for China Print Supplies is “performance per pound without the compromise”, which Clutton explains: “We deal directly with the manufacturer and so cut out several middlemen, which is where the value comes from. Then we add full UK Gold Warranties to all our products so customers get the same level of cover and service they receive from the best in the business.

“Support is massive for me. Being an engineer and service manager for 12 years, I have experienced first hand frustrations from customers dealing with other service departments. I understand that our printers can be a customer’s whole business and without them they have real problems. So our aim is to be with customers next day, maximum 48 hours.”