Page 44 - Print21 Nov-Dec 2019

Installations
Franchise winner in
business-boosting investment
MBE Parramatta prides itself on being the MBE Franchise of the Year – but, as owner Charles Batt knows, there is always room to grow, and the new Fuji Xerox Iridesse Production Press is helping it do just that. Jake Nelson reports.
Making it special
MBE Parramatta has been a Fuji Xerox house for close to ten years, starting with the Color 1000 press and moving up to the 1000i.
The manufacturer’s flagship Iridesse Production Press is another step up, and Batt highlights its image quality and specialty colours – like metallics and white – as reasons he decided to invest in the new machine in a deal announced at PrintEx this year.
“The Iridesse just does beautifully. You can have two white stations in
it – so you can actually have white as your first colour and white as your last colour. That means if you wanted to get a really solid white on a black stock or navy stock, you can actually lay it down twice in the one pass.
“Being able to do that specialty colour first, particularly on the dark stocks really makes a big difference,” he says.
Metallic colours available on the Iridesse have also opened up new options, says Batt; for example, MBE Parramatta can now print variable data in gold and silver for an effect, which would have been impossible with conventional hot or cold foiling.
“With things like wedding invitations, we’ve done silver underlay where we’ve been able to get a metallic look.
“For example, someone wanted
a rose gold type finish, where they could data merge names onto an invitation. That was probably one of the first jobs we did on the machine when it came in.
“You can do a white underlay on a dark stock and you can use a gold or silver on top, we can put a clear finish – it really makes a difference and opens up those markets where previously we would have had to outsource. The marketing agencies and people who are doing specialty stationery are probably the ones who are picking up on it most at the moment,” he says.
Opening a dialogue
These expanded specialty colours are a benefit even if the customer doesn’t end up using them, says Batt – as it gets them listening to what you have to offer.
“The thing is it triggers a conversation in the first place. If all you can say is ‘I’ve got a really good printer, I can do a really great colour print’, they say ‘well, why are you different to anyone else?’
“If, on the other hand, you can show them some samples and say ‘look, we can print white on the dark stock, we can put a clear gloss over the top, we can do metallics and so on’, they’ll stop and they’ll listen, they’ll have that conversation with you. In sales, having a conversation is a starting point to building a relationship,” he says.
“It’s really about finding an edge
in the market, and having the right equipment is certainly one way of being able to go out and get an edge when you’re looking for new customers.”
And it’s an edge which Batt hopes will help Parramatta claim the MBE crown again and again. 21
Located right on Parramatta’s bustling Smith St in Western Sydney, Charles Batt’s MBE franchise is well-placed
geographically to serve both public and private sector work.
“We love working for state government departments, and there are a lot of corporates, so we will work for some around the area.
“Other than that, there’s that whole sweep of small to medium businesses – whether it’s a cafe or restaurant, that type of business. We love doing marketing agency work as well,” he says.
Established 13 years ago, MBE Parramatta this year won the company’s Franchise of the Year Award – an honour which Batt attributes not to earning the most revenue (though he does), but to being the “most valuable player” overall.
Batt says, “You wear the uniform, you promote the values of the organisation, you follow the rules and the way the franchise group is set up – because the whole idea of buying into a franchise is that it’s
a business model that helps you to grow your business. All of the things that you do become part of being a franchise of the year.”
Top left
Just prints beautifully: Charles Batt, MBE Parramatta, with the Fuji Xerox Iridesse Production Press
Top right
Speciality:
the Iridesse enables white printing on dark-coloured stock
44 Print21 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019