We Are Aspire Projects Cutting Print Costs by Two-Thirds with Toshiba Managed Print Services

We Are Aspire is a community anchor organisation based in Newcastle-under-Lyme that blends commercial expertise with social purpose. The group encompasses Aspire Housing, a 9,000-home housing association, alongside Achieve Training and the Realise charity. Together, they employ more than 470 people across seven sites in Staffordshire and Cheshire.

The Challenge

With 1.2 million pages printed every year, We Are Aspire knew its existing print infrastructure was costing far more than it should. Forty-three devices were scattered across the seven sites, many of them underused and all of them difficult to monitor centrally. Annual print costs had reached £90,000, and there was no meaningful visibility into who was printing what, or where the biggest inefficiencies lay.

Beyond the cost issue, the organisation wanted to move towards a more agile way of working. The existing setup — with printers tied to fixed locations and no flexibility for staff to roam between sites — was holding back plans for open-plan offices, hot-desking, and flexible working arrangements.

The Solution

Following a competitive tender through the Procurement for Housing framework, We Are Aspire selected Toshiba on the strength of a thorough, consultative approach. Toshiba’s specialist business analysts carried out detailed audits across all seven sites, taking time to understand not just the print volumes but the wider business objectives around agile working and cost control.

The resulting solution replaced the 43 existing devices with just seven Toshiba e-STUDIO400AC multifunction printers, positioned as strategic print hubs throughout the organisation. Staff can now print remotely from their own devices and collect output at any hub using their security card, making it straightforward to work from whichever office suits them on a given day.

A comprehensive reporting suite gives management full visibility of print activity by department, area, and individual user — covering everything from high-usage patterns to cancelled jobs.

The Results

Within nine months of implementation, We Are Aspire projected a reduction in annual print costs from £90,000 to just £30,000 — a saving of two-thirds.

The reporting capability proved transformative. For the first time, the organisation could see exactly how its MFPs were being used across the entire estate. This intelligence fed directly into education and training initiatives, helping staff understand the environmental and financial impact of unnecessary printing. Cross-divisional invoicing was also simplified, since the system captures precisely what each department prints by volume.

Staff began asking themselves whether they truly needed to print a document before sending it to the device. Management credits this behavioural change to the visibility and accountability the new system provides.

Glen Manby commented that Toshiba took the time to fully audit the business and gain a deeper understanding of their needs, sharing the same values and end goals. He described the partnership as one that has transformed printing within the organisation, delivering full visibility, control, and the potential for ongoing savings.