When it came to choosing a suitable partner to supply their in-house printing, print embellishment & cutting equipment - Hen Party Superstore said ‘yes’ to the Intec proposal of a perfectly matched suite of solutions, for their every need.
Based in Telford, England, ‘Hen Party Superstore’ and its sister company, ‘Play & Party’, are both part of the Blue Cockerel Group - a long-established family run business.

Blue Cockerel made the corporate decision to bring their printing and finishing facility fully in-house and also to upgrade current plant to a much higher level. Mark Hoar, managing director of the company, set about sourcing an appropriate provider and it was during a visit to the UK Print Show 2018 that he discovered Intec Printing Solutions.
Mark, and operations manager, Sophie Thornton, were extremely impressed with the diverse range of equipment in the Intec range. With high quality digital printing, stunning metallic foiling and totally controllable cutting and creasing solutions - this was a match made in heaven!

“We’re now typically turning round 100 orders a day and the quality and functionality of the Intec kit is really helping us satisfy the high expectations of our fantastic customers.”
Sophie Thornton. Operations manager, Hen Party Superstore.

ColorSplash print quality, speed, functionality and affordability
Having seen the Intec kit in action at the Print Show, Blue Cockerel were pretty sure they were making the right choice, but before officially placing their order, Intec offered to sample and calculate costings for two of Blue Cockerels regular print items. This was easily done via Intec’s iCat cost calculator, which has been developed to give precise cost analysis in conjunction with the Fiery XF RIP. Basically, any PDF can be measured and calculated against ColorSplash consumables costings to obtain the real printing costs per sheet.

The resulting figures met with a very favourable reaction and a subsequent purchase order for all three Intec devices was issued.

Since upgrading to the ColorSplash CS4000, Blue Cockerel has really noticed the difference in print quality. “We really like the ColorSplash, it handles any media we’ve chosen to run through it and the sharpness and colour is superb. One of the features we’re really appreciating, is the three drawer stand. Having different media options loaded and ready to print on to at any given time is an absolute boon.” commented Jamie, from the design studio.

No more faking it
“Metallic foiling? Yes, Yes, YES!
With our new ColorFlare CF350 we can produce the real thing - no more trying to simulate ‘rose gold’ and faking other special effects out of CMYK toner. We are so happy with this machine,” said Sophie. “Our hens are looking for glitzy bling and glam’, and the ColorFlare adds it all so easily - we’re in love with metallic gold and rose gold - it’s the real thing.”

More than just metallic foiling
Although metallic foiling is a major attraction, ColorFlare is perfectly at home adding lamination and holographic effects to printed sheets.

Regardless of which model used, all ColorFlare devices can be used to great effect across a wide range of media substrates. The process is fast and economical, the end results are limited only by the user’s creativity - and the whole production can be carried out for as many or few pieces as required. Readers might be interested know that the CF1200 and CF750 models are also available in the ColorFlare range.

Cutting and creasing ANY shape and expanding our lines
The ColorCut FB520 is a very compact and useful digital cutting and creasing device. “At Blue Cockerel, we have plans to really put this machine in to action,” continued Sophie. ”Bottle labels, stickers and novelty items are some of our best sellers. We can design and produce exactly what we need, to meet customer demands - as well as adopting emerging trends. Plus, having this kind of kit in-house means we can produce results instantly!”

New revenue streams
Having this production suite in-house has also given Blue Cockerel ideas about developing an even wider range of bespoke products to add to both company’s ranges. Card games and novelty fun items are just a couple of ideas currently in the pipeline for development. “It’s so easy to experiment with new ideas, shapes and finishes,” enthused Sophie. “Having the kit on tap and not incurring outsourced charges has set us free to exploit the market.”

Intec sales and service
Managing director, Mark Hoar, rounded up the conversation, by adding, “We are delighted to be able to choose an innovative UK based company such as Intec to partner with on this important expansion. The product installation and training was excellent, as was the advice from the sales team.
They come highly recommended.”

ColorFlare CF350 applying metallic foil to chocolate bar wrappers (left). A stack of finished chocolate bars (right).