About Us
Family business. Managed print. Based in Kent, working across the UK.
Our Story
From one van on Rochester High Street to acquiring a Thanet rival on a handshake.
Kevin Bowden had been a photocopier engineer for twenty years before he started Bowden Digitec. Twenty years of turning up at offices, taking machines apart, and not leaving until they were actually fixed.
But he didn't start as an engineer. He started as a van driver for a photocopier company, going to college in the evenings to learn the trade properly. When the company kept making false promises about offering him a proper role, he took the qualification he'd earned and became a fax expert — back when fax machines were the cutting edge of office communication.
He'd worked for company after company across the South East, and one thing kept bothering him: the gap between sales and service was a chasm. The sales team promised the world. The service team got called three days later by a customer whose machine still wasn't working. Nobody took responsibility.
Kevin didn't work like that. If he fixed your copier, it stayed fixed. That attitude made him popular with customers and slightly annoying to employers who preferred engineers to hit their call quota and move on.
In 2012, Kevin made a decision. He'd tried business before and it hadn't gone well. He'd tried sales and discovered he was — in his own words — "too nice for it". He'd worked for companies where the culture felt wrong, where the priorities were all about margin and nothing about the customer.
So he started Bowden Digitec with a Citroen Nemo van, a phone, and absolutely nothing else. No office. No staff. No marketing budget. He'd park on Rochester High Street, fix whatever copier someone called him about, and drive to the next job.
Word spread. One customer told another. A fixed machine in Gillingham led to a referral in Maidstone. The business grew the old-fashioned way — by being genuinely good at the thing it claimed to do.
Fourteen years later, the principle hasn't changed. We're FCA regulated, ISO 9001 and 14001 certified, and manufacturer-authorised across Epson, Sharp and Develop. But we're still a service-led business that happens to sell photocopiers. When something goes wrong, you ring us and speak to someone who actually knows your setup.
The WBS Acquisition — A Handshake Deal
In late 2024, Bowden Digitec acquired Wade Business Solutions (WBS Copiers), a well-known Thanet firm. The deal was done between two old friends — no lawyers, no drawn-out negotiations.
The previous owner of WBS is someone Kevin had encouraged to start the business years earlier, when he saw him watching Bowden's early growth with curiosity and ambition. They'd built something solid together in spirit, if not on paper.
When the WBS owner decided to focus on a new venture, he came to Kevin directly. He didn't want to sell to just anyone — he wanted someone who would look after his clients, keep his engineers, and honour what he'd built.
The deal was done on trust. All WBS engineers transferred to Bowden Digitec. The Manston office stayed open. WBS continues to trade under its own name.
"We didn't want to slap our name over everything and pretend we invented it. WBS had a good reputation. We're building on it."
— Kevin Bowden, Managing Director
FCA Regulated Credit Broker
We're authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a credit broker. That means when you take out a lease through us, your finance agreement is properly protected under FCA rules. We work with a panel of FCA-authorised lenders to find you the best terms, and we're legally required to treat you fairly throughout the process.
Bowden Digitec Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA Firm Reference Number: 737782. You can verify this on the FCA Register.
Manufacturer-Trained Engineers
All our engineers are trained directly by Epson, Sharp and Develop/Konica Minolta. They hold current manufacturer certifications and attend regular training to stay up to date with new models and firmware. When we send someone to your office, they know the machine inside out, not just the basics.
Epson
EP-Aide Certified: remote diagnostics & proactive monitoring
Develop / Konica Minolta
ineo series factory-trained: hardware, software & solutions
Sharp
Technology Partner certified: MFP installation & maintenance
Meet the Team
We're a small team and we like it that way. You'll get to know us by name.
Kevin & Sarah Bowden
Directors
Kevin and Sarah built Bowden Digitec together from the ground up. Kevin knows every machine and every customer by name; Sarah brings the marketing expertise and strategic direction that turned a one-van operation into a company covering Kent and London. She has a marketing degree and has pushed the business forward every step of the way.
It's a family business in the proper sense. When you call, you're speaking to people who care about getting it right. And when someone joins the team, Kevin and Sarah invest in them properly — because developing people is something they both believe in.
The team at an Epson partner event. We work closely with our manufacturers so we know the products inside out.
What We Stand For
Family Values
You'll know us by name. We don't hide behind account managers or ticket systems. If there's a problem, you ring us directly.
Straight Talking
We quote what it costs. No per-page surprises, no hidden extras buried in the small print.
Proper Service
Our engineers work for us, not an outsourced call centre. They're usually with you the same day.
Sustainability
We push Epson's inkjet tech because it uses measurably less energy and creates less waste. It's not a marketing gimmick.
Multi-Brand
Epson, Sharp, Develop ineo. We sell all three because different businesses need different things.
Want to Have a Chat?
One copier or a whole fleet, we're happy to talk it through. No pressure, no hard sell.
Get In Touch