HOWARD HUNT (CITY) LIMITED

In just twelve short years, since its formation in December 1990, Howard Hunt (City) Limited has grown from a standing start into a highly respected sheet and web -fed printing group with a turnover of £34 million and 300 staff.

Their first Mitsubishi press - a five colour, B2 - was installed in 1994.

This was replaced with a Mitsubishi 3FR B1, 4 over 2 , 6 unit perfecting press with IR drying. Whilst the B2 sheet-fed press had proved that Mitsubishi sheet-fed presses could match the quality and reliability levels that Howard Hunt demanded, prior to the replacement of one of their web presses, Howard Hunt City’s team visited more then a dozen existing Mitsubishi web users in Canada, Japan and France. All the installers commented on the ability of the Mitsubishi web press to deliver exceptional quality, user friendliness and excellent reliability.

Howard Hunt City had run three web presses from three different manufacturers in the past. However, based on Mitsubishi’s existing web user’s feedback, the company chose to install their first Mitsubishi Diamond 16 page web press at the beginning of 2000. The Mitsubishi Diamond 16 page, 6 colour web press was commissioned with inline remoist pattern glue unit, pattern perforating unit, rewind rereel winding unit and sheeting facility.

With a cut off of 625mm and a speed of 2,000 feet per minute, it exceeded the speed of their previous web presses by about 600 feet per minute.

To complement the existing Mitsubishi investment, a second Mitsubishi B1, 6 colour press was installed and in May 2001 following proven productivity with their first Mitsubishi web press, a second, identical Mitsubishi Diamond 16 page web press was commissioned.
Nod Piggott, Chairman of the Howard Hunt Group says, “we consider the Mitsubishi to be probably the best web press available today, with awesome reliability that won’t let us down.”

"the best web press available today"

Production Director, Keith Whitehead adds, “Our original B2 sheet-fed press introduced us to the quality of Mitsubishi presses but to make sure we were making the right web decision, we trialled the Mitsubishi web press extensively. It has proved to be the right choice and the 1020 web width, together with a printing speed of around 60,000 impressions per hour, boosts productivity enormously. Mitsubishi also provide the best after-sales service we’ve ever experienced.”

Today, in the shadow of the Dartford bridge, the Group now occupy three factories. The original 38,000 square foot building still houses Howard Hunt (City) Limited where their five presses - four of which are Mitsubishi - are sited.

Expansion and specialization has seen the formation of Howard Hunt Direct Limited and a second 38,000 square foot factory which houses the latest finishing equipment. The Mitsubishi web presses supply reels to Howard Hunt Direct Limited for finishing through on-site rereel facilities. A nearby 25,000 square foot factory is home to a third Group company called Celerity that focus on data management and personalization.

It is the people, as well as great equipment, that drive the Howard Hunt Group towards greater success and their aim to become the Number One provider of direct mail print and production in the United Kingdom.