FROM EXCITING INNOVATIONS TO ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES THAT AFFECT THE ENTIRE PLANET, WE’VE HAD A SPECTACULAR 2019. HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF OUR HIGHLIGHTS. 

It looks as though the print has finally run dry on 2019, but before we go ahead and grab a fresh batch for 2020, we wanted to take a moment to both celebrate and reflect on what has been a pretty outstanding year.

From taking part in one of the UK’s biggest and most impactful environmental initiatives, to enhancing our printing capabilities through the acquisition of cutting-edge technologies — here are just a few highlights that truly make us smile.

Celebrating local businesses and talent

February and March were awards season. And while Team Purely wasn’t quite lucky enough to bag a seat at the Brits (maybe next year!), or rub shoulders on the red carpet, we were privileged to be involved at this year’s Mainframe Awards.

The prestigious event, which takes place at Derby’s Quad, is a celebration of our city’s creative and digital industries — and in 2019, Purely had the honour of producing the awards handed out to everybody shortlisted at the finals.

Each award was meticulously crafted using a 3D printer, sculpted out of an environmentally friendly material. This was achieved with our newly acquired Makerbot Replicator+ — allowing for precision 3D printing in a variety of complex shapes and formations.

For us, it was a massive pleasure to attend the shortlisting ceremony and to see the nominees receive their awards was a spectacular moment. As a Derby-based business, we’re extremely passionate about celebrating local successes, particularly those attributed to local businesses.

To that end, we were also thrilled to have a presence at Derbyshire Live’s Top 200 Businesses launch event. It was yet another fantastic showing of our city’s most successful and prosperous enterprises, and our MD, Andy, was delighted to represent Purely Digital alongside the likes of Rolls Royce and Bombardier.

Investing in new technologies

Our addition of a new 3D printer was just one in a long line of new equipment upgrades this year. Investment in new, modern and cutting-edge technologies not only enhances our capabilities but also greatly enables us to meet the needs of our customers in an efficient and timely manner. To this end, we invested in a new Matrix 530 Metallic Pneumatic — an exceptional piece of kit, which allows for high-quality metallic foiling at a much lower cost than the traditional plate-pressed method.

Absolutely loving the combination of rose gold foil onto black stock, testing some business card designs for @teamkoobr ❤️ Great technology from @VividLaminating 👍 #TeamPurely #loveprint #digitalfoiling #businesscard #rosegold #technology #digitalprintgurus #SpreadingTheLove pic.twitter.com/sGXgz5XllF

— Purely Digital (@TeamPurely) 12 July 2019

This new foiling technique has already prompted high praise and positive feedback from our customers; many of which have already begun to take advantage of the features on offer to bring their printed material to life. From our perspective, the end results are certainly more stylish and sophisticated compared to some other methods of foiling — and we can’t wait to truly flex our foiling muscles in the New Year.

Putting our planet first

For a very long time now — back when we first started, to be precise — Purely Digital has always made efforts to reduce our environmental impact, maximising the ways we can help save the planet as much as possible. And at the start of the year, we launched our Purely Green Initiative, outlining all the different ways we’re committed to reducing CO2.

This culminated in our participation at one of the UK’s biggest environmental initiatives, planting 150 trees to populate The Woodland Trust’s first Young People’s Forest near Heanor in Derbyshire. The event was attended by more than 300 people and businesses from across the region — including a few environmental figureheads, such as the BBC’s acclaimed and respected Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury.

A total of 13,000 were planted on the day, which will help offset CO2 emissions while serving as a poignant and prominent reminder that we all have a role to play in the global fight against climate change.

On that note, from everybody at Team Purely, here’s to an even bigger and better year ahead!