This year marks Xaar’s 25th anniversary in global inkjet technology, including industrial inkjet printheads.

Xaar originated as four people in a small office on Cambridge Science Park. The company’s goal was to develop and commercialize 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 manufacturing facilities in Huntingdon and Järfälla, Sweden, and in offices in Hong Kong, India and the US.

The company has experienced success during its run. Its 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 aided the ceramic tile decoration industry, bringing many benefits to tile manufacturers all over 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 world of additive manufacturing, 3D printing and nanoimprint lithography, a process used to manufacture silicon wafers.

To mark its 25th anniversary, Xaar is organizing a program 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, starting with a 26-strong Xaar team undertaking a 60-mile London to Cambridge Bike Ride to raise over £2,000 for Breast Cancer Now. Other challenges planned are the Chariots of Fire relay race in September (for East Anglia Children’s Hospice) and October’s the Byte Night sleep-out in aid of Action for Children.

“We’re immensely proud of what we’ve achieved over the last 25 years, but we know we couldn’t have done it without the advantages that come with being in Cambridge – not only our people but also the superb high-technology support infrastructure that’s in place,” explains Richard Barham, Xaar’s chief customer officer. “By linking our anniversary celebration with support for these charities, we are giving something back while also showing that we remain an energetic company with a strong drive to succeed.”