Signs Express Newcastle eyes high margin applications with new investment

Print Solutions

Diversified sign making and graphics business Signs Express Newcastle has praised the impact of its new HP Latex 630W, saying that the printer has extended its in-house production capabilities and allowed it to take on more high margin work.

Located just over 10 miles from Newcastle city centre, the company forms part of the Signs Express network, delivering a range of bespoke services to customers across the local area. From window graphics, exhibition displays and banners to labels, signage and vehicle graphics and wrapping, Signs Express Newcastle is positioned to support clients with a wide range of work.

The company had been producing a lot of this work on an HP Latex 330, which had been in place for over eight years. However, it recently made the decision to upgrade to a Latex 630W, taking delivery of the machine in July 2025 from approved HP partner, Papergraphics.

‘The Latex 330 gave us outstanding quality and reliability, so when the time came to make a new investment, our first choice was always going to be an HP Latex machine,’ said Signs Express Newcastle’s managing director Adam Greaves.

‘To elevate our growth potential further and increase our in-house abilities, we chose the Latex 630W. It brings with it a whole host of benefits, both from a business and client perspective, and Papergraphics was great during the whole buying and installation process.’

Measuring in at 1.63 metres wide, the printer has a top speed of 14 square metres per hour in standard, six pass mode, with users able to print using white ink. Additional features include on-printer job storage of up to 10 GB, automatic maintenance, and the ability to print on a wide range of materials, allowing users to produce all manner of projects.

Signs Express Newcastle wasted little time in putting the machine to work, with the printer having been used to produce a wide range of applications over the past few months. Crucially for the company, its white ink capabilities have allowed it to bring profitable work in-house.

‘The advanced water based HP Latex technology produces crisp, vivid results on a wide variety of materials, from vinyl and canvas to fabrics and beyond, enabling us to broaden our services and react swiftly to more diverse customer needs,’ Adam said. ‘While our main output is self-adhesive vinyl graphics for signage, windows, and vehicles, we have also been meeting demand by printing on other substrates such as banners and posters.

‘The Latex 630W allows us to print opaque white ink, which opens up new creative and high margin applications, such as transparent, metallic, or coloured substrates, that we could not do in-house before.’

Adam added as output from the printer is instantly dry and more scratch resistant, this has allowed the company to reduce turnaround times. In addition, he highlighted the sustainable benefits of working with HP Latex technology. All the Latex printers run water based inks, which have far less impact on the planet than other ink types including solvent, eco solvent and UV.

He continued, ‘With the water based inks being more environmentally friendly, including low odour and no hazardous air pollutants, this is supporting customer demand for more sustainable signage and printed applications.

‘We are only running the one machine at the moment; however, we may look to invest in the future as the business continues to grow, and HP Latex will be our first choice!’