Magna Colours launches pioneering product to revolutionise industry
A SOUTH Yorkshire ink manufacturer has launched a new product that could revolutionise screen printing and save thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Magna Colours, of Dodworth, near Barnsley, has developed an ink for T-shirts that can be cured in half the time and at a lower temperature than traditional ink, so reducing energy use by up to 75%.
Operations manager Steve Noble said: “We believe this product really is pioneering.
“We are continually innovating and developing new products in our lab. Like in any industry, if you stay still, you are not going to survive.”
Barnsley Development Agency (BDA), a partner in the South Yorkshire Sector Growth Enhancement Programme (SYSGEP), helped Magna Colours apply for a grant from CO2Sense to help develop the new ink. BDA is also helping with advice over intellectual property.
Magna Colours’ screen printing inks are exported to T-shirt manufacturers worldwide, with 85% going outside the European Union to countries like China, India and Vietnam.
The company was started by the current managing director Tom Abbey’s father in a room above a shop in 1978, now employs 28 people at its 30,000 sq ft factory in Dodworth.
Adrian Waite, Barnsley Development Agency’s SYSGEP sector growth manager, said: “This is a good example of how important it is for companies to invest in research and development. But the great thing is that there is financial support out there to do that.
“We were able to introduce a grant opportunity here that the company would not have discovered on its own. This new product should be very lucrative for Magna Colours.”
