Xaar began life in 1990 as four people in a small office on Cambridge Science Park. Their goal was to develop and commercialise the digital inkjet print technology arising out of work done by Cambridge Consultants. Today, the company employs over 600 people worldwide, based at three buildings on the Science Park, at state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Huntingdon and Järfälla, Sweden, and in offices in Hong Kong, India and the US.
Over the last 25 years, Xaar has proved itself to be an inkjet innovator many times. The company's Xaar 128 printhead transformed the wide-format printing industry 20 years ago; even today Xaar technology still drives approximately 75% of the wide-format printers in use. In 2007, Xaar launched its Xaar 1001 that has since brought many benefits to the ceramic tile decoration industry around the world, including reduced costs and an expanded range of creative tile design effects. More recently, Xaar expanded its focus into other significant marketing sectors, including direct-to-shape packaging printing and the hi-tech world of Additive Manufacturing, 3D printing and nanoimprint lithography, a process used to manufacture silicon wafers.
To mark its 25th anniversary, Xaar is organising a programme of events during the summer and autumn. In line with the company's record of supporting local and national charities, it includes a number of company-wide charity challenges.
