Print Week articles from April 2008

Print Week archives from April 2008

Axe hangs over B&T as Dolan claims 'economic vandalism'.(Mike Dolan)(Butler and Tanner)
April 24, 2008... Mike Dolan has threatened to close Butler and Tanner (B&T) if a strike planned for next Wednesday goes ahead. The latest move in the dispute with union Unite, which centres on changes to working practices, has come after union members...

Sign up for print's most prestigious honours.
April 24, 2008... PrintWeek has launched its annual hunt to find print's brightest and best companies and rising stars. In this week's issue of the magazine we've inserted the entry kit for the 2008 PrintWeek Awards, our annual celebration of the UK's...

AccessPlus set to become BPO arm of stationery group O2O ..
April 24, 2008... AccessPlus is close to becoming the print management division of Office2Office (O2O) after the stationery supplier made a pounds 26m buyout offer. O2O has offered 6p per share for AccessPlus's AIM-listed parent TripleArc, valuing the...

... as Cromack forecasts big-contract potential.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... AccessPlus and TripleArc chief executive Jason Cromack has said he will be aiming for contracts worth up to pounds 15m annually if his company becomes part of Office2Office (O2O). If the deal is approved by shareholders, Cromack will...

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
April 24, 2008... Vinalith, in Kent, has produced a 3D magazine cover for Empire magazine's special edition, out tomorrow, on this summer's blockbuster release The Hulk. The 300,000 vacuum-formed covers were hand-made from semi-rigid PVC

Postal ballots fraught with risk, say printers.
April 24, 2008... Security printers have slammed the government's procurement process for the printing of postal voting ballots, calling for a stricter standard of accreditations in the tender. Angus Walker, business development director at Adare, said...

The smell of success.
April 24, 2008... Colouration, the point-of-purchase printer for the cosmetic, retail and exhibition industries, has installed a six-colour Ryobi 750 press, its second machine from the Japanese manufacturer. Tony Dennington, managing director of the...

UK print colleges mount effort to bring new talent to industry.
April 24, 2008... Leicester College is to play host to a forum of UK print college representatives which aims to raise the profile of print education and ensure its long-term survival. Representatives from eight institutions, including Leicester College,...

Sacked printer awarded pounds 24k.(Print Plus)(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... A printer sacked from Print Plus has received more than pounds 24,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal. Ray Berrow was sacked after a disagreement with Mark Adcocks, managing director of the Hereford firm, over the late delivery of a...

Pindar sets up 'Green Team'.
April 24, 2008... Pindar Graphics has formed an environmental group in a push to drive its five-year 'Respect the Planet' strategy. The 'Green Team' is headed up by Mark Smith, technical manager at the firm's Tewkesbury site, alongside eight environmental...

Leach and Pureprint in Queen's Awards success.(Leach Colour Inc.)(Pureprint Group)(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Print companies including Leach Colour and Pureprint Group have been named among the winners of this year's prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise. Huddersfield-based Leach Colour has won the award for innovation, after it developed...

Derbyshire gets new mail house.
April 24, 2008... A new mailing house has been founded in Derbyshire after a management buyout of another company failed. Ian Sinclair, Richard Boon and Kevin Wilkins had attempted to buy out an unnamed mailing house in the county. But, when the deal...

Reader Reaction: Should printers or buyers be responsible for cutting waste?
April 24, 2008... After Tesco pledged to cut its packaging by 25%, we ask where the environmental burden lies. - Packaging group Bob Houghton, corporate marketing and communications manager, Chesapeake 'All parts of the supply chain should be...

Mohn unveils plans for major DM push in UK.(United Kingdom)(direct mail )(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Mohn Media, part of the Bertelsmann Arvato group, has hired former Communisis PDMS southern sales director Dave Shepherd to spearhead an assault on the UK's direct mail market. Shepherd, who becomes Mohn's UK sales manager, has been...

Chevalier claims speed record after kit spend.
April 24, 2008... Dutch digital and litho print group Chevalier has claimed the 'fastest printing times in the world' following a EUR6m (pounds 4.8m) overhaul of presses at its Rotterdam site. The EUR25m-turnover company, whose clients are largely...

Centris secures C&C agent deal.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Centris Print Management has signed a deal with one of China's largest printers, C&C Offset, to act as its UK commercial agent. Nottingham-based Centris has been contracted to develop sales in the UK for Hong Kong-based C&C, which has 10...

Legal Notices.
April 24, 2008... This information is extracted from the print- and publishing-related notices that appear in the London Gazette. Further Information is available from its website at www.gazettes-online.co.uk APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATORS Media...

MAN Roland IPO 'put on hold'.
April 24, 2008... MAN Roland's proposed flotation has been put on hold, according to reports in a German newspaper. Quoting sources familiar with the planned IPO, Euro am Sonntag said an IPO was still the preferred disposal method for 65% owner Allianz and...

Buoyant MPC forecasts sales boom for 2008.
April 24, 2008... Sheetfed magazine specialist The Magazine Printing Company (MPC) has revealed plans to break through the pounds 6m turnover barrier in 2008. The north London firm's projected sales figure of pounds 6.1m for the current year represents...

Bezier owner to shift focus to US.
April 24, 2008... MidOcean Partners, the private equity house that owns Bezier and Europackaging, is to wind down its operations in the UK in order to focus on the US. In recent months, the company has lost a number of staff, including print specialist...

Currency exchange site could help firms prosper in volatile markets.
April 24, 2008... A new service enabling printers to mitigate the effects of currency fluctuations has been set up by online currency exchange 4X Currency Corporation. 4X claims the new trading service will provide printing companies that trade overseas...

Borrowing downturn 'could help economy'.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... A painful period for borrowers could benefit the economy in the long run, according to the latest economic commentary by HSBC. Dennis Turner, chief economist at the international bank, said that the period of tighter borrowing and higher...

Epson expands offering with inkjet innovations.
April 24, 2008... Epson will be setting out its stall at this year's Drupa with the aim of breaking into new sectors outside its traditional large-format market. The manufacturer will be targeting print-for-pay, label printing, print-on-demand, photo and...

Specialist grand format on show.
April 24, 2008... Gandinnovations will unveil a new range of grand-format digital presses at Drupa. The firm, which specialises in printers for outdoor and billboard work, will show its NanoJet UV True Flatbed, the Jeti 3348 Jetstream UV RTR and the Jeti...

Komori to demo first MIS-integrated web.
April 24, 2008... Komori is to showcase its web portfolio at Drupa next month with a focus on increased productivity and higher quality print. The Japanese giant will bring a System 38S 16pp web to Dusseldorf, one of only two web presses to be demonstrated...

Friedheim UK agencies gear up for Dusseldorf.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Post-press kit distributor Friedheim International has revealed more details on the Drupa activities of its UK agencies. MBO will use the show to launch a raft of new automated functions for its range of folders, more details of which...

Drupa Info.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... 6 weeks to go PrintWeek and printweek.com will be running a series of dedicated news pages and show previews and will be covering all the news on Drupa in the run-up to the show and during the event. In addition, PrintWeek's German...

Salvation Army Quark upgrade.
April 24, 2008... The Salvation Army has upgraded to version 7 of QuarkXPress to produce a range of books and other publications for its 1.6m members across the globe. The religious social services organisation is using the software to produce titles...

EFI earmarks Drupa for European campaign.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Pre-media and digital giant EFI is planning its biggest ever assault on the European market at this year's Drupa print show in Dusseldorf. EFI, whose market position in the US is unrivalled, has previously been accused of focusing its...

Markzware questions integrity of InDesign's inbuilt pre-flight.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Markzware has launched a scathing attack on Adobe InDesign's inbuilt pre-flighting utility through the online video-sharing site YouTube. The video compares Markzware's own FlightCheck software with Adobe InDesign's pre-flight tool,...

GWG's pre-flight specification set for patent clash with Esko.
April 24, 2008... The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) has struck a blow for open source software with the release of the first free 'Proof of Preflight' specification. The specification's release could lead to an interesting showdown with GWG member and...

Xerox posts sales increase but profits suffer after lawsuit.
April 24, 2008... Xerox has posted an 18% increase in sales for the first quarter of 2008 driven by an increase in colour printer sales, but recorded a quarterly loss following a massive litigation charge. According to the company, revenue from colour grew...

Ikea launches personal book.
April 24, 2008... Ikea will be offering customers the opportunity to personalise the cover of their newly launched UK at Home coffee table book. The launch is intended to 'celebrate the coming of age of Ikea in the UK'. Consumers will be able to...

Arden Direct cuts downtime after purchasing new Videojet BX6000.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Arden Direct has invested in a Videojet BX6000 digital printer following a two-month period trialling the system. The Leicester direct mail business, which serves the mail order and holiday sectors among others, made the move to invest...

DSTi offers online DM service Hi-Response.
April 24, 2008... Transactional mail firm DSTi Output has launched a web-based direct marketing service that allows clients to design and create content for online communications. Hi-Response allows customers to create content using either text or images,...

Goss and Ferag launch Muller Stitchliner rival.
April 24, 2008... Press kit manufacturers Goss and Ferag are to challenge the Muller Martini Stitchliner in Europe with the launch of a new joint-venture product. The new set-up is essentially a Goss Pacesetter operating alongside a Ferag...

Alphagraphics buys guillotine.(Graphic Arts Equipment)(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Alphagraphics in Sheffield has installed a Horizon APC-61II 61cm fully-automated programmable hydraulic guillotine from GAE. The Horizon has an icon-based touch-screen with 99 job memory and functions that include even-divide, total and...

Celloglas investment aims to cut turnaround.
April 24, 2008... Finishing specialist Celloglas has invested in a new high-speed double coater in a bid to cut turnaround times on full and spot coating. The company, which has a nationwide presence, has purchased a new Speedmaster CD102-LYYLX from...

Baker Goodchild pledge.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Baker Goodchild, the Birmingham-based mailing house, has pledged to plant a tree for every new direct mailing campaign it picks up in 2008 and 2009. Client services manager Maxine Reason said: 'We are really excited about the launch of our...

Creasetech purchases Prism guillotine.
April 24, 2008... Creasetech, based in London, has purchased a new 115cm Prism guillotine from Consensus Guillotine Engineering. The Prism replaces an older Wohlenberg at the company's North London premises

Contract extended by M Partners.(GUK)(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... M Partners in Hackbridge has extended its contract to work with German folder manufacturer GUK as its representative in the UK. The two companies have been working together for 18 months and a new three-year contract has now been signed....

Zechini to show at Drupa.
April 24, 2008... Zechini, the Italian manufacturer, has announced it will be showing off its VIP hardbound bookmaker at Drupa. The machine is equipped with one or more 'sewing book machines' and runs at speeds of 1,200 books per hour

Warners awarded a Muller Martini Cowbell.
April 24, 2008... Warners (Midlands) has recently become the latest company to be awarded a Muller Martini Cowbell. The award, for performance excellence on a Muller Martini perfect binder, was handed out after Warners printed 399,680 copies of a 96pp...

Schneider Senator announces presence.
April 24, 2008... Schneider Senator has announced its presence at Drupa 2008. The company, represented in the UK by Friedheim International, will be showing its new system four-load jogger, which will be shown in combination with an advanced four-cut-cutting...

Gough replaces George as president of NAPM.
April 24, 2008... PaperCo managing director Alistair Gough has been made president of The National Association of Paper Merchants (NAPM), the only accredited trade association for paper and board merchants. Gough has been in his current role at The Paper...

UPM range to be shown at Drupa.
April 24, 2008... UPM will showcase its new innovations at Drupa and kick-start the campaign for its flagship product, the UPM Finesse range of wood-free coated papers. The Finnish papermaker will present its range of papers for all printing methods and...

Digging in.(Palm Paper)(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Construction has started at the site of Palm Paper's pounds 400m plant in Norfolk, which will house the world's largest newsprint machine. Around 150 guests attended the site of the firm's PM7 project last Thursday. Wolfgang Palm (r), Palm...

Sappi gets Antalis supplier of the year award.
April 24, 2008... Sappi has been given Antalis UK's supplier of the year award for 2007. The award is designed to strengthen relationships between Antalis and its key suppliers. Antalis evaluates its suppliers in terms of quality, logistics, environmental...

Per Lyrvall appointed at Stora Enso.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Stora Enso has appointed Per Lyrvall as the new general counsel and secretary to the board of directors as of 1 June 2008. He will report to chief executive Jouko Karvinen and will be based in Sweden. Lyrvall is currently legal counsel...

Emma Rogers appointed at PaperCo.
April 24, 2008... PaperCo has appointed Emma Rogers to its corporate services and national accounts team. She will act as a paper adviser, liaising with creative agencies and creative departments in end-user companies throughout London and the South East....

Beswick Paper Northampton holds open night.
April 24, 2008... Beswick Paper Northampton held an open night at its newly relocated stock holding branch and distribution centre on 10 April. More than 250 guests, including customers, suppliers and staff, attended the event, along with a robot called Titan....

Fedrigoni Group stand.
April 24, 2008... The Fedrigoni Group stand at Drupa 2008 will be housing all the group's production companies. These include Fedrigoni Cartiere and Fabriano, Arconvert and Manter and Fabriano Securities

Contract Update.
April 24, 2008... Newsquest has been awarded a pounds 146,000 contract to print the fifelife newspaper. Connect Communications, the Scottish publisher, will design and publish the 16pp title, which will be distributed quarterly to all households in Fife....

Client Audit: Coors Brewing Company.
April 24, 2008... The Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing group, the Molson Coors Brewing Company. The brewery in Golden, Colorado is the world's largest on a single site. Coors owns the Carling beer brand,...

Editorial: Ensuring banter never evolves into bullying.(Editorial)
April 24, 2008... I wonder how many of you reading this have been victims of bullying at some point in your career? If the stats in our feature are to be believed then, at first glance, the majority of you have been, even if you were unaware of it at the...

Comment: Singing from the same hymn sheet.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... The life and work of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of movable type and letterpress printing, has been justifiably celebrated in a variety of forms. One of the most unusual and solemn tributes to the European prototypographer is a musical...

Comment: Talking business.
April 24, 2008... Rate cut was a damp squib but it's not all gloom in the manufacturing sector. The early April cut in interest rates, from 5.25% to 5%, was not greeted with the usual enthusiasm. First, it had largely been expected and, therefore,...

Analysis: Profile - Alistair Gough.
April 24, 2008... PaperCo boss takes on fresh challenge to guide industry through tricky times. As president of the NAPM, Alistair Gough has some firm views on the future of paper, says Helen Morris. PaperCo managing director Alistair Gough believes...

Analysis Special: Wapping - Iconic and notorious news site bows out gracefully.
April 24, 2008... It all started with violent clashes and bitter union disputes, but 22 years later, Wapping has printed its last copies and bid an emotional farewell. Adam Hooker reports from the east London plant. It started in 1986 with protests,...

Workplace Bullying: Beating bullies at work.
April 24, 2008... Research shows bullying in the workplace is an escalating problem, and not just for the victims: employers are increasingly being held responsible, writes Philip Chadwick. A bit of banter in the workplace is one thing, but sometimes that...

Drupa Preview: MIS & Workflow - Connectivity is the name of the game.
April 24, 2008... JDF stole the limelight at the last Drupa, but the technology still had a way to go. In 2008, however, integration of all aspects of the production line looks to have finally come of age. Workflow and management information systems (MIS)...

Drupa Preview: MIS & Workflow.
April 24, 2008... MIS & WORKFLOW MIS - Dims! Organizing Print www.dims.net Stand 9/A25 Dutch software developer Dims! Has gone back to the drawing board to develop a brand new MIS Dims.net! Built around ease of use, it features flow charts,...

Product Portfolio: Product of the week - Spuhl Virtu RS.(Product/service evaluation)
April 24, 2008... Karen Charlesworth discovers that these wide-format hybrid printers, little-known in the UK, offer high-quality flexibility. The name of Spuhl will be unfamiliar to many UK printers, despite there being three installations of the Swiss...

Product Portfolio: Me & My ... Oce VarioStream 8650 Twin.
April 24, 2008... Fred Marshall, secure services manager at Mailcom, has increased capacity by 450% with this print system that offers high-volume colour capability. - What does the machine do? It is a high-performance continuous-feed twin printing...

Product Portfolio: Tried & Tested - KBA Rapida 104.(Product/service evaluation)
April 24, 2008... A solid choice when it was launched more than 20 years ago, this press is still making its presence felt in the secondhand arena. It's testament to the robust build quality of KBA's Rapida 104 that it still commands a presence in the...

Product Portfolio: Buyers' Guide - Collators.(Product/service evaluation)
April 24, 2008... Despite shifts in the market and changes in technology, collating remains an important part of the print process, reveals Nosmot Gbadamosi. Over the past 20 years, there has been a shift in collating requirements. Where once printers...

Product Portfolio: Joanne's help line - Company stats & UV security inks.(Product/service evaluation)
April 24, 2008... Joanne Gardner tracks down the solutions to your print problems. Q: We are a team of engineering students at the University of Southampton with connections to its Entrepreneurs' Society. For our degree, we are proposing to set up as an...

Product Portfolio: Technical tutorial - Inspection systems.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Broadly speaking, there are two types of on-press inspection systems for sheetfed presses. The first is a basic network of miniature cameras fitted throughout the press. These provide an inspection of the sheet's travel through the press, so...

Product Portfolio: Diary.
April 24, 2008... APRIL Swedev Seminar Date: 29 April Venue: Teamworks Karting, Birmingham Price: free Contact: Nigel Day 020 7733 0646 The international Direct Marketing Fair 08 Date: 29 April-1 May Venue: Earls Court, London Price: free...

EU Tenders.
April 24, 2008... Please read the important notes below as PrintWeek cannot supply any additional information or pass on your details. These tenders are abridged. It is essential that you obtain a full copy of the tender before contacting any of the...

Post Script - Marathon effort from industry's athletes.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... This week, Post Script raises a glass of vitamin-enriched energy drink to the fighting-fit industry representatives who successfully completed this year's Flora London Marathon. Seven runners from print management giant Charterhouse all...

Post Script - Memory Lane.
April 24, 2008... ONE YEAR AGO Dsi and CMM combined to create the UK's largest direct mail printer .. GI Direct commissioned research that showed only a quarter of the UK's top 200 print firms had ISO 14001 accreditation... FIVE YEARS AGO ...

Post Script - Print's Past.(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Fat Faces Until the mid-18th century one category of typefaces dominated: that designed by Aldus Manutius in 1495 and on which all subsequent roman types were based. In the mid-18th century variations into the roman tradition were...

Post Script - Q&A - Tim Claypole.(Interview)(Brief article)
April 24, 2008... Tim Claypole is director of the Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating. At 54 years old, his print career has spanned 18 years. He once labelled bottles of blood for money, has aspirations of world domination and would like the guy who played...

B&T's Dolan plans fresh vote over strike action.
April 17, 2008... Butler & Tanner's increasingly bitter union dispute has taken a bizarre twist after chairman Mike Dolan ordered a fresh vote to counter Unite's ballot for strike action. Results of Unite's ballot were released on Tuesday (15 April) and,...

End of the line for Wapping.(Brief article)
April 17, 2008... Wapping, UK print's most iconic site, will roll out its last newspaper this weekend, drawing the curtain on more than two decades of continuous production. The east London facility, which opened in 1986 amid furious and sometimes violent...

Donnelley seeks buyer for former Astron arm.(Brief article)
April 17, 2008... RR Donnelley has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on a possible sale of its UK business process outsourcing arm Global Document Solutions (GDS), according to sources. The revelation comes three years after RR Donnelley paid...

'Best ever' quarter for TPF after pounds 85m wins.(Brief article)
April 17, 2008... TPF Group has landed over pounds 85m worth of new business since the start of the year, in what chief executive Steve Brundle has described as the company's 'best ever' quarter. TPF revealed that it had signed up eight new clients since...

GI recruits DM development boss.
April 17, 2008... Direct mail specialist GI Direct has appointed TPF Group regional sales director Alistair Ezzy as business development director. Ezzy said he was returning to his background in working with inline web presses, and was looking forward to...

Tesco 'will cut packaging by 25%'.
April 17, 2008... Tesco's senior packaging buyer used last week's BPIF Carton Conference to restate the supermarket giant's commitment to reducing its use of packaging by a quarter. Speaking at the Northamptonshire event, Sonia Raja confirmed the retail...

In brief: SPM Print gets Gold award.
April 17, 2008... SPM Print has been awarded a Southwark Council Gold award for its environmental work. The award for the Rotherhithe-based company, which comes in the same year it achieved ISO 14001, was presented by Lisa Rajan and accepted by operations...

In brief: Valley Printers Supplies signs up to nationwide network.
April 17, 2008... Valley Printers Supplies, the Woolwich-based distributor, has signed up to the nationwide network of dealers of Sun Chemical products Valley has recently undergone a rebrand, with a new logo and image to reflect its broader product offering...

In brief: Sam Neal of Geoff Neal Litho promoted.
April 17, 2008... Geoff Neal Litho has promoted Sam Neal to managing director. Neal joined the company, which was founded by his father Geoff, in 1998. Neal said he would be focusing on business development and brand building

In brief: Five-year development plan announced.(Brief article)
April 17, 2008... The Printers' Charitable Corporation has announced a five-year development plan. The tenets of the plan are based on the cornerstones of PCC Homes, PCC Helps, PCC Links and PCC Income Generation. Outgoing chairman Sir Jeremy Elwes said: 'The...