In2Print enters exhibition market with Backen Wright buy

Dominic Bernard Monday, August 7, 2023

Cheltenham mixed-discipline printer In2Print has launched itself into the exhibition market with the purchase of nearby wide-format printer Backen Wright.

Commenced in late May and completed in June, the purchase – billed as a merger, rather than a takeover – has seen Backen Wright MD Leon Saddington join In2Print as business development manager.

Saddington, who brings his client list with him, will now oversee In2Print’s growth in exhibition and signage work.

In2Print had been considering such a move into exhibitions, according to Simon Dunbar, one of the company’s two joint managing directors, but had not yet cracked it.

Backen Wright, meanwhile, had been struggling after Covid’s annihilation of exhibition revenues, having reduced his staff to just one other.

The suggestion by a mutual acquaintance in May that both companies might benefit from coming together, therefore, was fortunate for both parties, Saddington said.

He told Printweek: “We had a few emails back and forth, and then I met up with Simon and had a long chat with Pete [In2Print’s other managing director] and Simon, about how we could move things forward with large-format.

“It sounded like it was in its early stages, whereas I’ve been doing this all my life, pretty much.

“It just made sense for us to join up, and for me to become their main department for [exhibition and signage work], really.”

After seeing his business shrink by half in the pandemic, the security of a larger, diversified outfit also appealed to Saddington.

With the retirement of his remaining salesman, and the prospect of a deal with In2Print, Saddington sold off his kit and brought his business over to In2Print.

The deal has proved itself beneficial, according to Dunbar.

He told Printweek: “It’s been really good.

“Leon has brought a lot of knowledge on board, and obviously quite a few of his clients, too.

“Like most other litho and digital printers, we were looking for other avenues to make a margin, and wide-format has been something we were looking at – we just didn’t have the expertise.”

Saddington will now use In2Print’s two Roland DG wide-format printers, an LEJ-640 hybrid UV and Soljet XR printer-cutter, to fulfil jobs at his new employer.

In2Print, which now employs 16, will invest in new kit soon and is looking into further acquisitions, Dunbar said.

“We see this as a good acquisition – and it probably won’t be our last,” he said.