AJS’ new premises officially opens for business

On Wednesday, October 5, CEO of Tajima Group, Hidetoshi Kojima, was invited to cut the ribbon and officially open the new premises of AJS Embroidery Services in Nottingham after many years in the planning. P&P editor Melanie Attlesey attended the grand opening and spoke to the man himself to find out what the opening means for the two businesses going forward.

The new 13,0000sq ft AJS Embroidery Services premises and headquarters for Tajima UK is located on the Sherwood Business Park in Annesley.

It includes a large showroom for demonstration of Tajima embroidery machines along with the additional products in AJS portfolio, including the DTF Polytech printer and Coloreel automatic thread colouring machine. There is dedicated workshop for assembly and testing, warehousing area for loading and unloading coupled with bespoke offices, boardroom and dedicated stores area for spares and consumables.

Guests at the grand opening included long-standing customers and partners from within the embroidery industry including, Mattias Nordin and Stephen Mckenzie from Coloreel, Karen Burrows and Andrew Maylor from Madeira UK, along with Sue West and Tom Clark from TC Threads.

28 years in the making

After the ribbon was cut by Mr Kojima, AJS’ managing director, Tony Dorsey, gave a rousing speech in which he said the following: “I really appreciate you travelling from near and far, taking the time out of your busy schedules to share this special day with us, especially our guests from both Tajima Japan and Tajima Europe. This day has been 28 years in the making but with the hard work and dedication from all our staff, who have stuck by AJS and Tajima through the good, and difficult times, especially the last couple of years with the global pandemic, it brings us here today to see what we can achieve with our new headquarters for Tajima UK. I’d like to thank all our staff for their loyalty and dedication.

“We would also not be where we are today without the continued support from our customers. There are those of you who are new to Tajima and those of you who have been loyal to the Tajima brand over many years. We thank you very much and can only say that we value your support and we continue to strive to do the utmost to provide you, the customer, with the best possible service coupled with Tajima technology to ensure in turn that your business will develop and grow.

“It is my hope that we now build a solid foundation for the future of AJS and Tajima in the UK, which will see us through the next 28 years and beyond. So now, thank you very much guys.”

Years to come

After a spot of lunch, I sat down with Mr Kojima to find out his thoughts on the new building and what it means for AJS and the Tajima Group for the years to come.

Tajima Group was founded in Japan by Mr Kojimas’ grandfather, Hitoshi Tajima, back in 1944. Mr Kojima himself has only been CEO of the company for the last 18 months, and his visit to the grand opening of the new Tajima UK headquarters marked his first time in the country. He was joined at the opening by Ryota Sato and Eriko Kamimura of Tajima Europe.

Tajima and AJS Embroidery Services’ relationship dates back to 1994 and since then the company has been the sole distributor of Tajima embroidery machines in the UK.

“It’s been a very good relationship that we’ve enjoyed with AJS over the years. We have enjoyed working with Tony and it’s pleasing to see new generations of technicians coming through, including Tony’s son Mitchell. I expect that our relationship will only get stronger,” said Mr Kojima.

Recently Tajima completed the acquisition of Pulse Microsystems, a move which now elevates the company to more than just a manufacturer of embroidery machines. During the acquisition a new company called Tajima Software Solutions was established.

Mr Kojima explained the reasonings behind the acquisition: “Before the acquisition of Pulse we were just a manufacturer of the machinery. With just the embroidery machines themselves there are some limits. Pulse adds another element of value to our embroidery machines and provides a solution to our customers. We can now offer a total business solution. We see web shops and automation of the embroidery process key to the future of Tajima, and Pulse is essential to that,” he added.

Talk then turned to the UK market and the importance of it to the Tajima Group. Mr Kojima said that despite it not being as big as some other markets in the world, it is one of the more important.

“The use of our single-head machines for personalisation began in the UK and has since spread to Europe. Embroiderers in the UK are not afraid to try new trends for their customers. We feel that the UK customer is not cost-conscious and instead focuses on the end result. It is very important to us to keep growing and nurturing this market.”

Invaluable visit

While in the UK Mr Kojima visited several customers up and down the country to gain first hand insight into what it’s like to be an embroiderer in the UK. This was an experience, that as CEO of Tajima Group was invaluable to Mr Kojima.

The new AJS showroom is full of all the embroidery machines that AJS distributes, from 12-head machines to single-head machines. Mr Kojima believes that in the UK the most popular machine is currently the TMFX-IIC Type 2, but with the personalisation market growing, he expects the TMEZ-SC1501 with in-built Intelligent Thread Management to grow in sales with it. i-TM cleverly looks at the design and delivers exactly the right amount of thread that is needed for that exact length of stitch.

Now that AJS’ new premises is officially opened for business, customers old and new are actively encouraged to visit the dedicated showroom and put the machines and the staff through their paces. The doors are always open.

With a premises of this calibre to now call home, it certainly provides AJS and Tajima with a good foundation to build a successful future together.