Deltaprint managing director Richard Payne, who founded the company more than 30 years ago, handed over the reins to Indigo Ross on Friday (20 April).

One member of Deltaprint’s four-strong staff has moved over to work at Indigo Ross' 279sqm premises on Woodhall Business Park, Sudbury – two miles away from Deltaprint’s original home. Payne will retire, while another member of staff has chosen to move on and the third was a part-time worker who will not be joining Deltaprint’s team.

“Deltaprint is a company that has been very long-established in our town and we have always held a great respect for them,” said Indigo Ross director Phil Roper. “We do all the same sorts of work they produced as well as web design and large-format services.

“My ambition now is to market ourselves to Deltaprint’s loyal customer base and promote the additional aspects that we can offer. This is a case of one small company absorbing another and we agreed with Richard that Indigo Ross was the perfect fit for his company – its reputation echoes where we want to be ourselves.”

The two companies first began talking about a possible deal around 18-months ago.

Indigo Ross’ litho, digital and wide-format services are provided using a range of printing machinery from Xerox, Konica Minolta, Epson and Roland, as well as a “whole array” of finishing equipment. Litho work is outsourced.

None of Deltaprint’s equipment will be moved over to Indigo Ross, leaving Payne to dispose of the remaining assets as he wishes.

For the time being, Indigo Ross will do some trade under the Deltaprint brand “as appropriate”, but with a view to phase it out over time as the company is fully absorbed.

Including the additional person from Deltaprint, Indigo Ross employs 12 members of staff, offering web and graphic design on top of its printing services. It has sales of just over £1m, which Roper said he now has plans to increase.