Life Begins at Thirty

Having started life in the 1970s as an in-house production facility for a large media group, CC Imaging has celebrated its thirtieth birthday with a major face-lift.

Thanks to a huge investment of both time and effort from owners John Weldon and Mark Senior, the company is now recognised as one of the major photographic labs in the Leeds area. With their existing lease coming to an end, John and Mark decided it was the perfect opportunity to maximise their already strong position and expand and rethink the business by moving to a new, purposebuilt site on the edge of Leeds city centre.

John explains the thinking behind the move: “If I’m honest, we were ready for a change as we’d been at our old premises for thirty years. Over that time, the industry has changed dramatically and we needed to reflect that in the way we presented our business.
“Moving to a brand new unit has allowed us to design the interior exactly how we want it. The layout we decided on fits our needs perfectly, but also gives us the flexibility to change in the future as our customers’ demands change.”

And with the introduction of digital technology, customer requirements have changed dramatically with scanning and retouching services becoming an area of rapid growth. In fact it’s become such a key part of the business that, since the move, John and Mark have supplemented their growing scanning business by buying an Imacon 949 scanner - the first in the UK.

John continues: “We all know that digital technology is here to stay and it’s important that we can keep pace with developments. But its not the only area of growth for us. E6 processing is still a major part of our business despite everyone saying that it’s a declining market, so our trusty E6 machine has moved house with us, as well as some of our enlargers - we still produce traditional prints too!”

But this move hasn’t been driven by growth alone - there is a strategic reason behind it too. CC Imaging shares its new premises with The Right Image Ltd, a photographic wholesaler and dealer with a demo and hire studio. Together, they offer a complete one-stop-shop for photographers in Leeds.

Mark comments: “Because so many photographers visit both CC Imaging and The Right Image we’re always busy and there’s a real buzz about the place. Between us, we offer almost everything a photographer could need so things couldn’t really be better for us or our customers.”

Contact CC Imaging on 0113 233 0024 or
at www.ccimaging.co.uk.