Info-Tec Distribution Ltd. was founded to provide a distribution channel for manufacturers’ branded products via an authorised dealer network throughout the UK and Ireland.

 

Now with a successful and well-established team based in Poole, in Dorset, we have a reputation for selling high quality printing solutions to the many aspects of the professional print and graphic markets throughout the UK and Ireland. In addition some of our products are also distributed throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa.

 

We handle distribution for many hundreds, in fact thousands, of product lines from manufacturers such as Agfa, Brady, Canon, Epson, Intec, Kimoto, Kodak, TechNova, Wasatch, Xanté and Xerox to name just some of our branded products.

 

So if you are a manufacturer looking to find an experienced distributor with a track record of taking products to market, or a dealer looking for new products to meet your clients print related needs, or a professional printer looking for new products or ideas then please give us a call as we would be delighted to help.

The business was founded back in 1989 when I and my wife Tracey had just returned to the UK after spending a year travelling overland from London to Cape Town through 25 African countries. The trip included hitch hiking across the Sahara Desert, through the jungles of the Congo, and then across the Kalahari Desert. When we arrived back in the UK I needed to find work fast as our savings had been spent on this mammoth trip across Africa. Unfortunately the first gulf war was under way and meaningful work was difficult to find.

 

Whilst looking for work I started to approach some of my previous clients, these included the largest high street franchise chains. Within weeks I was asked to advise on desktop publishing and whether one of these new ‘Macs’ or ‘Windows’ computers running programmes such as Corel Draw and Aldus PageMaker would be a viable alternative to the then current IBM Composers or expensive typesetting systems being used to produce typesetting. After presenting my suggestion for a turnkey desktop publishing system with flatbed scanner and mono laser printer I was asked where I would recommend the systems should be sourced from. I said that ‘we’ could supply them and thus the business was born.

 

Those were the good old days when a DTP system including scanner, PC or Mac, software and an A4 300 dpi laser printer could be purchased for £10,000 and as a dealer we could make a comfortable profit margin. Sadly those days seem to have long gone!

 

The business grew quickly as the recommended supplier to the franchise chains and also to independent printers throughout the UK. The profits from the first year of trading from the ‘back bedroom’ enabled us to put down a deposit on our first business premises and by the end of the first year we had a staff of 5 and we were debt free. We have never looked back since.

 

Gradually the business changed it’s focus in becoming a specialist supplier of laser printers to the print and graphics market and we sold the first 1000 dpi laser printer in the UK, the first 1200 dpi laser printer in the UK, the first 1200 dpi A3 laser printer and we were the largest reseller for the first ‘affordable’ A3 laser printers – the QMS 860. We also learned fairly early on that supplying computers and software gave increasingly lower returns but needed an ever increasing amount of support whilst the range and capability of printing solutions resulted in a continuous stream of new opportunities and repeat business from the consumables and media required, from the sale of the printers. We increasingly focused on this area.

Then in 1994 we began to see more competition in selling laser printers to the printing industry which were being used for both proofing, short run mono printing and the production of original artwork onto paper – then known as ‘bromides’. At this time we started to look for a manufacturer we could gain sole distribution for at the same time that Xanté was looking for a distributor in the UK. Initially Xanté appointed a broad line distributor but they lacked the knowledge and focus to sell into the print and graphics industry and so it was agreed that we would handle distribution for Xanté in the UK. Sales began to soar and a number of dealers wanted to also sell the products.

 

Thus in 1995 we formed Info-Tec Distribution Ltd. to handle distribution for Xanté in the UK and Ireland.

 

Xanté printers began to be used for the production of laser film and polyester printing plates. The Xanté printers and the associated consumables remained the main products we distributed until about 2000 although there were always other secondary product ranges.

 

Xanté introduced colour laser printers for proofing and short run on demand printing and more recently their successful heavy stock colour production printers – the Xante CL30 and later the Xante Ilumina digital printers.

 

However by 2003 we recognised we needed to diversify our product range as we had a great dealer channel, and a well recognised brand as a specialist distributor, but we needed some new and exciting products to enable the business to grow.

 

We also began to recognise that with the fast moving changes in the industry many of our dealers were also looking for new products and new ideas. Thus Info-Tec made the decision to move from being a niche distributor to a specialist distributor of professional printing solutions.

 

Initially we developed our film and plate solutions moving into inkjet based film and plate systems. We launched the world’s first inkjet based metal CTP system – the JetPlate CTP system – which we distributed throughout Europe giving us our first experience in European Distribution. We were also the first serious suppliers of inkjet based film solutions, again harnessing Epson printers, Agfa inkjet film and utilising the Wasatch RIP. This continues to be a successful partnership.

 

This move into inkjet based solutions and our knowledge of the market resulted in Canon appointing Info-Tec as their second distributor in the UK in 2005. Info-Tec has grown the Canon large format brand significantly in the UK.

 

The widening of our product range, the addition of further strong brands and the strengthening of our position in the market has had a snow-balling effect with further distribution agreements being signed with Brady, Epson, Intec, Kimoto, Kodak, Technova and Xerox in the last 2 – 3 years.