A Bury St Edmunds-based labels and printing firm has this month sealed a deal to buy a business which specialises in making waymarkers.

Denny Bros hopes to open up new business opportunities by combining labelling and engineering expertise after acquiring Richard Ching & Son Ltd in Hadleigh.

The move enables it to expand its product offerings to include nameplates, fascia labels, under surface printed labels, vinyl labels and waymarkers.

Denny Bros Group chairman Barry Denny said he was “delighted” at the deal.

“They are a great company with a good work-force and offer an excellent range of specialist signs, labels and nameplates. Their activities dovetail in to those of Denny Bros and Willowbridge Labels, a company we bought a few years ago, and which has gone from strength to strength as a result of our involvement and investment. I am sure we can do the same with Richard Ching & Son Ltd, and look forward to progress being made over the next year or two,” he said.

Richard Ching has more than 80 years’ experience in manufacturing the widest range of labels and nameplates within the industry. It specialises in producing waymarkers used by councils and other organisations as well as metal nameplates, plastic labels, overlays and many other labelling products used across all industries.

The family-owned company, which shares the same ethos as Denny Bros, will continue to be run by general manager of 30 years, Ivan Kistruck, and will operate under its current identity.

Mr Kistruck said: “Richard Ching’s previous owner, Sheila Harrington, took great care in selecting the right company and the right people for us to work with. The news has been extremely well-received here as it provides job security and with the possibility of new markets comes the prospect of more employment in the future. We look forward to having a long, successful future with the support of the Denny Bros Group.”

The move to acquire the company and its premises outright was driven by Denny Bros’ desire to benefit from Ching’s excellent reputation and experience in an area which fits well with Denny Bros’ existing product ranges, Denny Bros said.

Both companies hope to build further on current successes in the UK market and aim to share expertise in order to expand their market share in the future.

This latest acquisition now takes the Denny Bros Group of companies to 10 covering a broad range of disciplines.