AJS Labels winner of British Print Industry Federation award
July 24, 2011
The 2011 British Print Industry Federation Award for Company of the Year has gone to British-based AJS Labels, a Sussex company manufacturing converters for self-adhesive labels. According to the awards judging panel, the decision in favour of AJS Labels was based on the company’s straightforward but successful approach to communicating with and engaging staff to provide a continual improvement in customer service standards.
The company is a successful business collaboration between husband and wife team Andrew and Jayne Scrimgeour, who serve as co-directors, and they were both in attendance at the BPIF awards ceremony in London to collect the award:
“It is a great honour to have won this. The BPIF is one of the UK’s leading trade associations, supporting the print and packaging industries which form part of the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, so we are thrilled to have all the hard work and dedication of everyone at the company acknowledged in this way,” Andrew Scrimgeour said.
2011 saw a change in the annual BPIF awards, with the competition seeking to recognise creativity and innovation across the entire spectrum of print media. This is an attempt to acknowledge the efforts of companies addressing issues relevant to consumers and the immediate and long-term future of an industry which has been badly affected by the recession. Thus the new awards criteria saw recognition given to areas ranging from environmental impact and training and development to health and safety and innovation, with the Company of the Year award recognising overall excellence.
UK Payments Council cancels plans to close central cheque-clearing facility
July 23, 2011
The UK Payments Council has announced that it will not be pursuing the planned closure of the central cheque clearing facility in 2018. The change in policy, which provides a major boost for UK cheque printers, comes after a period of consultation with banks, stakeholders and the Treasury Select Committee, following the original announcement of closure in December 2009.
The council stated that the plan to close the facility was motivated by a decline in the usage of cheques as a means of payment and was part of a larger scheme to phase them out altogether, but the consultation process undertaken suggested that stakeholders and customers were concerned about the plans:
“Over the last two years we have learnt a great deal about what is important to our many stakeholders and we are really grateful to all of those groups and individuals who took the time to talk to us and help us reach this decision. We will use what we’ve learnt to keep improving existing systems, as well as introducing innovation, so that customers benefit from 21st century ways to pay. Innovation must be at the heart of what we do”, said Payments Council chairman Richard North.
However the primary reason for the decision is likely to have been the failure to find a feasible paper-based replacement for cheques. The council had begun research into a paper printing alternative in 2010, with the intention of having a replacement option cost-analysed and in place by December 2011, but have now accepted that this will not be achievable.
Manroland secures contract with Kingston Carton for Roland 706 DirectDrive press
July 22, 2011
Printer company Manroland has secured a deal with Kingston Carton – a packaging and folding carton company situated in Hull – to supply the company with a new Roland 700 six colour LV+coater DirectDrive press. Kinston Carton’s Managing Director, Arend Buitendam stated that the motivation behind the purchase of the Roland press was the demand within the company’s business sector for greater speed of delivery, lower print runs and the ability to deliver products meeting ever more specialised packaging specifications.
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Wotton Printers looks to MBO purchase to aid expansion policy
July 21, 2011
Wotton Printers, the commercial printing company located in Newton Abbott, Devon, has invested in an MBO T460/44 buckle folder as part of their plans for the expansion of the business. The company’s Managing Director stated that the installation of the MBO folder – together with an A56 mobile stream delivery, has enabled the company to cope with increased demands for their services by Read more
UKAS to certificate BPIF Colour Quality Management scheme
July 19, 2011
For some time the British Print Industry Federation has been trying to get UKAS to officially recognise their ISO12647-2 Colour Quality Management Certification Scheme, which is designed to improve industry practice in order to reduce production and waste costs, and which a number of companies are already utilising. This official recognition involves UKAS awarding certification accreditation to bodies, enabling them to independently audit print companies against the BPIF scheme Read more
Barclays Print purchases Ricoh digital press from Heidelberg UK
July 15, 2011
Barclays Print has become the second printing company in the UK to purchase a Ricoh digital printing press from supplier Heidelberg UK, following in the footsteps of Alltrade Printers, who last month publicly expressed their satisfaction with the printing services provided by the press.
The decision to install the Ricoh – the Pro C901 Graphic Arts model – is part of a strategy by Barclays Print, situated in the Leyton area of London; to reduce the financial outlay currently required to outsource its digital printing. The belief is Read more
New Oce ColorWave 600 production systems for Manchester University
July 14, 2011
In order to improve their service to their students, Manchester Metropolitan University has purchased another Oce ColorWave production systems – their third – to replace the eight colour, wide format printers they had been using. Previously, waiting times for prints during peak academic term periods were up to 72 hours, while the average print time for A1 printouts was over 15 minutes.
Now, despite the reduction in the number of printers Read more
New research shows print companies absent from stock exchange
July 13, 2011
According to recent research undertaken by the British Print Industry Federation, only six printing firms out of a market comprising over 10,500 companies are currently floating shares publicly on the stock exchange. This is of serious concern for an industry already struggling to cope with the recession, as the absence of print companies from the stock exchange denies businesses the benefits of greater press coverage, which in turn enhances the profile of a company and makes it easier to raise much needed finance.
The decision to avoid public share flotation has likely been Read more
Choose the right method for business card printing
July 13, 2011
When it comes to creating the first impression of a company, the business card is of vital importance; this is what you hand over to a prospective client in the hope that they will decide to use the contact information on it and hire your company. Therefore choosing the printing service to give your cards the right look is a vitally important task.
The most commonly chosen style of printing for business cards is full-colour printing, as it is straightforward and inexpensive and, despite this, it still gives cards the vivid, eye-catching quality which is necessary if they are Read more
First Print Station in Britain opened by HP
July 11, 2011
Printer manufacturer HP has launched the first of a planned series of 10 Print Stations to be situated in major creative centres across the UK. The first is to be based in Nottingham and is a partnership with local print company John E Wright – with other locations for the first 10 liable to come later from member companies of the Graphic Dealers Limited.
The managing director of John E Wright suggested that the Station would be the equivalent to an internet café for printing services and it is set to be linked to an e-commerce portal, allowing customers to order prints online and collect them from the Station. It is intended to cater for professional and educational requirements, with Read more
