Reproflex3 celebrates the 25th Anniversary of its UK business. (Foreground L to R) R3 co-founders Trevor Lowes and Andrew Hewitson with the UK team.

Global pre-press expert Reproflex3 Limited (R3) has announced it is kicking off the 25th Anniversary of its UK business with a year of celebrations.

"I am hugely proud to be celebrating this major milestone with our team, partners, clients and suppliers,” said Andrew Hewitson, co-founder. “Reproflex3 has positioned itself as a company focused on innovation in the global flexographic industry, providing superior pre-press packaging services and products to our clients that relate to every touchpoint in the packaging development process, from design to final print production.

“Our journey has been far from straight forward. We operate in an industry that demands adaptability, vision and investment in solutions-orientated innovation to survive. We began positioning the business for global growth in 2015. We did this through capital investment of more than £1.2million in new sites, R&D in unique patented flexible print technologies, and building internal online workflows and processes within the business that are both agile and transportable.

“This strategy has enabled us to keep growing despite the challenges of Brexit and the global Coronavirus pandemic. In 25 years we’ve matured from a team of two into a truly global business, with more than 90 employees and key operational partners world-wide. I am extremely proud of the reputation we’ve built for bringing quality and value to every step of the flexographic process, which drives our clients, our business and the industry forward.”

Reproflex3 was co-founded in 1996 by Andrew Hewitson and his business partner Trevor Lowes.

From its UK headquarters in the North East of England, the company uses its expertise inside the pre-press process to develop cost effective tools that add value for the print community, including its multi award-winning VORTEX™, BlueEdge™ and ProjectBlue™ screening technologies.

Today, Reproflex3 is a growing global business with sites in the UK, Middle East, Asia and New Zealand. It launched R3 NZ Limited in October this year following the acquisition of OPTI-Flex sites in Christchurch and Auckland. The deal was a move for Reproflex3 to further strengthen its global presence and capitalise on increasing demand for high quality flexible packaging and sustainable pack design across the region.

Reproflex3 also delivers its unique pre-press technologies in the United States and mainland Europe through its global partnership network and joint ventures that service its clients 24/7 anywhere in the world.

The UK business began its 25th Anniversary year with a celebration event at its HQ in Cramlington, Northumberland.

Trevor Lowes, co-founder, said: “Every member of the team has been instrumental in our journey, taking us from a small Repro House with big ambitions to a truly international, award winning business that is respected in the flexographic industry around the world. Success doesn’t happen overnight and achieving a business landmark like this makes our commitment and efforts all the more worthwhile.”

During the past 5 years Reproflex3 has tripled its turnover and delivered into more than 20 countries worldwide.

Andrew and Trevor are confident in their strategy to keep the momentum going. Planning for the future, they are focused on growth by building the R3 global partnership network and diversification, which they consider as crucial to maintaining success moving forward.

Trevor adds: “As passionate pre-press suppliers, we are one hundred percent focused on capturing the supply chain efficiencies that will help our customers to be even more successful. We are seeing tremendous growth in the use of flexo due to the diversity of the application in flexible packaging.

“This is driving demand for us to deliver the support networks for core applications and production tools, as well as manage the graphic added-value functions through innovations like our VORTEX™, BlueEdge™ and ProjectBlue™ technologies.”

“We intend to concentrate on diversification and new investment in terms of recruitment, collaboration and expanding our tools and technology platforms in this new digital era,” explains Andrew. “Our passion and expertise lies in pushing the boundaries of what flexo can achieve, we’ve come a long way in 25 years, and as we move into new markets I’m excited to see the impact we can make with our technologies and service.”