Diamond’s overseas mission as it targets the growing inkjet set

From its 11,000 sq ft factory in Sheffield, Diamond Dispersions manufactures water-based pigmented dispersions and dispersed dyes to enable customers to make inkjet inks.

More than 80 per cent of everything Diamond Dispersions produces is exported, with China accounting for 30 per cent of total overseas sales. The business turned over £750,000 in the year to the end of August 2011, with £40,000 of pre-tax profits, but expects to achieve sales of £1.2m this year.

Director Peter Callahan said: “From the very beginning we believed we had to export. We had to get out there into the market and meet the buyers. We spend a third to a quarter of the year on the road. Every new market that opens we explore. We sell to many of the leading ink manufacturers around the world.”

The business, which employs seven people, has developed a network of distributors in markets including China, Taiwan, South Korea, India, the United States, Germany and Poland.

To further develop these markets, the company is appointing in-country technical managers. Its first has recently been appointed for China where, working with the distributor, he will support both the Chinese and South Korean markets.

Meanwhile, the business is pushing harder into Brazil and Russia, where it hopes to work with distributors in the near future.

To create water-based pigmented dispersions and dispersed dyes, Diamond Dispersions mills the pigments down to nanometric scale. The particles are then kept dispersed in liquid for up to two years via the firm’s dispersing technologies. The dispersions provide the colour in the final inkjet ink. Mr Callahan added: “The stability and quality of our products is our main selling point.”

The business recently invested £150,000 in a new mill, which means it now has four production scale mills and one laboratory mill.

The textiles market will act as a key growth area for Diamond Dispersions in the next year, as the traditional methods of printing are falling to inkjet, said Mr Callahan.

He explained: “The inkjet ink market is expanding exponentially; as the speed of inkjets increases so the applications they can be used in also expands.

“Inkjet is fast, flexible and without the setup costs associated with the more traditional forms of printing. From nothing three years ago, dispersions for printing on textile accounts for over 30 per cent of our turnover. Many other traditional printing methods are moving over to inkjet too.”

Among these are printed electronics, ceramics and ‘on-demand’ books. The demand for pre-printed books is dropping, said Mr Callahan, due to the advent of devices such as the Kindle and IPad. He explained: “Booksellers in the US are moving over to printing books literally ‘on demand’. You walk into a shop and order your three volumes of Lord of the Rings and walk out ten minutes later with a freshly printed copy.”

Diamond Dispersions is growing by 40 per cent year-on-year and, as the worldwide inkjet market continues to expand, it is constantly developing new products and exploring new global markets.

But breaking into the inkjet market wasn’t easy. When the business launched, it was competing against multi-national companies with long-established reputations in the global ink and printing industry.

Fellow director Sue Wright said: “It’s been quite a struggle to establish a brand and reputation.

“From a shaky start, we have grown the business through going abroad, talking to people, meeting people, and they have come to trust us. Our products are reliable and consistent. Now Diamond Dispersions has brand recognition all over the world.”

Mr Callahan and Mrs Wright each own a third of the company, while The Viking Fund, a Yorkshire-wide co-investment venture capital fund, owns the final third.

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