and projects. The company now operates out of three sites: Roche in Cornwall via a 20,000sq ft site, and two sites in Bicester, Oxfordshire, which combined, are 80,000sq ft. The business offers paper wrapping, mailing and postage, print management, pick and pack, branding, pallet storage, and fulfilment. When asked about the biggest challenges Westcolour has faced, Ward says: “Transitioning vast quantities of mailing work since 2018, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, was a huge challenge – but our team never let clients down. Today, our challenge is getting the new HP digital press running 24/7, and we’re working hard to achieve that.” Ward’s faith and dedication to his employees is clear, describing them as “57 talented individuals”. When it comes to his favourite thing about Westcolour, he highlights the team, adding: “I love the commitment and dedication of our team – it’s the heartbeat of Westcolour.” Ward also says that the company is built on “trust, innovation, and adaptability”, which is evident not only in his faith in the team, the challenges during the pandemic, but also the strides it has made to grow. From a technical standpoint, Ward pinpoints the technology at Westcolour as another favourite element of the company, after all, who within the print industry isn’t at least a bit of a tech geek? “Watching our paper wrapping lines in action is mesmerising, and I’m equally excited about our new HP PageWide digital press and Harris & Bruno coating unit, which can apply UV gloss, matte, grit, and even sanitised coatings at incredible speed and quality,” says Ward. The company’s new expansion at Bicester means it has an extra 15,000sq ft of space which can help it in delivering print, packaging, and fulfilment services to the UK and beyond. The new factory includes 600 pallet spaces of racking, which vastly improves what Westcolour had before. When the company invested in the HP PageWide, Bowden and Ward both acknowledged the difficulties of the past few years but acknowledged that improvements are now taking place across the market, with new avenues for the likes of Westcolour to step into. At the time of the purchase, Bowden said: “After a challenging few years for the print industry, we’re seeing renewed trust in print as a high-impact channel. Our goal is to help our customers delight their audiences with personalised, value-driven, print-based subscriptions, newsstand items, and direct mail.” Trust, Professionalism, and Transparency When it comes to Westcolour’s ethos and values, Ward says: “Our ethos is simple – trust, professionalism, and transparency. Across all divisions – paper wrapping, mailing and postage, print management, pick and pack, branding, handwork services, and our new digital print offering – we are dedicated to meeting schedules and delivering exceptional quality. We specialise in large-volume work with precise weekly timeframes, and we pride ourselves on reliability and commitment.” Westcolour also prides itself on its environmental credentials, with its website highlighting its “eco-friendly mailing” which is backed by its association with the likes of Two Sides, World Land Trust, as well as the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) and The Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP). The company’s website says: “Recognising the damaging effects of single use plastics to the world, Westcolour worked with our partners to become one of the very first mailing companies in the UK to eradicate as much plastic from our supply chain as possible, fully converting to paper and other sustainably sourced recyclable materials. Paper is purchased PEFC or FSC and fully carbon balanced by the World Land Trust.” Sustainable solutions offered by Westcolour include paper wrapping, as well as “naked mailing” and bio-poly wrapping, which is a potato starch alternative which can be used to print marketing messages and is biodegradable within the home compost bin. Ward says a typical day at the company can be very consistent thanks to the long-standing customers and regular work streams the business has. “Each day, our talented team processes high-volume, time-sensitive jobs with precision and care. It’s a fast-paced environment, but one built on teamwork and trust,” adds Ward. When it comes to clients and the changes experienced with them, Ward comments: “Household names trust us because we deliver on time, every time. With the major industry shift in materials used from poly film to paper, we saw a huge transition of time sensitive weekly and monthly periodicals, switching, and we successfully managed this mass swich to millions of copies per month being produced from one material to the other.” Commenting on what Ward is most proud of, he says: “I’m proud that we’ve grown into one of the largest mailing and paper wrapping companies in the UK. We were among the first to install paper wrap machines, and now we operate seven paper wrapping lines across two sites. Our recent investment in the HP PageWide 2200 web digital press futureproofs us for the next chapter.” Looking to the future Ward says the team is proud of the journey they have experienced so far and are excited for what is next.With expanding production sites, and investments in growing markets (which appear to be yielding good results) it’s hard to deny Westcolour is well prepared for the future. As for upcoming plans, Ward concludes: “We’re a flexible company that makes fast decisions. With our expanded services and recent investments, we’ve futureproofed Westcolour for longevity and growth. The next step is to maximise our digital capabilities and explore new opportunities as they arise.” ▲ [L to R] Andrew Bowden and James Ward, directors of Westcolour, with their latest HP Page Wide COMPANY SPOTLIGHT | WESTCOLOUR Each day, our talented team processes high-volume, time-sensitive jobs with precision and care. It’s a fastpaced environment, but one built on teamwork and trust 32 Issue 359 - March | April 2026 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk
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