Print Week articles from April 2011

Print Week archives from April 2011

New backer lifts Polestar confidence.
April 22, 2011... Polestar expects to take a more active part in any upcoming industry consolidation activity thanks to the fresh backing provided by its new US-based owners, but the sale of the company has come at the expense of its pensioners (see below). ...

But pension scheme bears painful brunt of Sun deal.
April 22, 2011... Polestar's new owners have jettisoned the company's multimillion-pound pension liability as part of the takeover deal. In a letter to members of the Polestar Pension Scheme, its trustees have revealed that they have accepted pounds 3.6m from...

Bezier creates ents division with Hicksville acquisition.
April 22, 2011... Bezier has bought London-based award-winning entertainment industry design studio Hicksville as part of a strategy to seek out acquisitions in the creative space and broaden its multichannel offering. The purchase of the 10-staff company...

Swindon MP joins burgled Thamesdown's battle to reverse insurer's payout decision.
April 22, 2011... A local MP has stepped in to help Thamesdown Marketing Services after its insurance company refused to pay out following a burglary at the Swindon-based firm's factory. The direct mail printer said its insurer Aviva refused to offer...

Business funding boost.
April 22, 2011... 'We need to spread opportunity across the country. With the right support, businesses can play their part in leading us back into prosperity' - Nick Clegg Deputy prime minister on the doubling of the Regional Growth Fund to pounds 450m as the...

Alito Color confirms Collins deal.
April 22, 2011... It has emerged that the business and assets of Alito Color Group have been sold out of administration to ex-director David Collins in an under-the-radar deal that was secured earlier this month. Collins was director of Alito Color, as well as...

Fire crews fight three-hour blaze at Swift Printers site.
April 22, 2011... Fire crews were called out last week to attend a fire at Swift Printers. According to a spokeswoman for West Sussex Fire and Rescue, around 25% of the Crawley firm's building was damaged by fire and heat, while the rest of the site suffered...

Editor's Comment: Polestar sale is good news for staff and for the sector.(Editorial)(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... So the big news this week is that the UK's largest commercial print group has changed hands once again. While the full details of the deal will probably only trickle through over the coming weeks, on the surface, right now, this has to be seen...

Paper sector's bad debt falls but financial concern lingers.
April 22, 2011... The National Association of Paper Merchants (NAPM) said last year's level of merchant bad debt in 2010 stood at pounds 14.6m, as the body warned the insolvency rate among printers remained a 'major concern'. However, the NAPM said at its...

Odessa invests pounds 1m in wide-format kit.
April 22, 2011... Odessa Offset has targeted pounds 10m turnover in the next 18 months after investing nearly pounds 1m in digital wide-format kit. The London-based business has boosted its print operation with the installation of a 5m-wide, 360dpi HP Scitex...

Seven Days in Print.
April 22, 2011... 5 - Agfa Web width (in metres) of the manufacturer's latest Jeti machine, the 5048 UV XL, which will be showcased at Fespa next month, page 12 100% - Dufaylite Ultra Board Recyclable content of the honeycomb POS board, page 17 10 - Bezier...

Seven Days in Print: Richmond unveils finance service.(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... Richmond Capital Partners has launched Contour Business Finance to provide funding to printers. The service has access to pounds 15m through three major financial institutions and is aimed at assisting business growth by offering funding...

Seven Days in Print: St Ives' Emley to step down.
April 22, 2011... St Ives chairman Miles Emley will retire next week (25 April) after almost 22 years at the group. he will be replaced by Richard Stillwell, who has been a non-executive director at St Ives for five years. His departure comes three months...

Seven Days in Print: SMG closure 'not down to Desmond'.
April 22, 2011... A source close to Richard Desmond has denied that the media mogul was the main factor behind the closure of Sport Media Group (SMG). SMG, which published the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, went into administration earlier this month and both...

Seven Days in Print: Print Power launches campaign.(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... Print Power has targeted 16,000 UK media buyers with the launch of a personalised magazine that stresses the power of the print. The organisation, which is dedicated to promoting print media, has launched the magazine campaign in 14 European...

Seven Days in Print: Poll.
April 22, 2011... Q: Do you think the royal wedding will be positive or negative for print businesses? Negative: 28% Positive: 34% Neither: 38% Next question: How do you rate your insurer? Have your say at printweek.com -------------------- ...

Seven Days in Print: Pick of the posts.
April 22, 2011... - It's not too late to stop the rot There's no doubt that the industry has had a terrible time over the past 18 months. To be successful you have to be able to sell in three areas: small-margin, normal-margin and high-margin. With small...

Seven Days in Print: Taylor Bloxham prints art book for cancer charity.
April 22, 2011... Taylor Bloxham has lent its support to charity Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, covering the costs of the production of an art book produced to raise funds. The Leicestershire-based company will be responsible for the print production of...

Seven Days in Print: Who bought what.
April 22, 2011... - Healeys cut turnarounds with K&B kit Healeys Print Group has claimed that the installation of a Kocher+Beck inline offset cutting system has saved it 80 hours of production time on a single job. bit.ly/pw-22healeys - Millharbour...

Seven Days in Print: Hot Topics - The most read stories on our website.
April 22, 2011... 1. Sale of Alito Color to previous management confirmed: 3,290 clicks It was revealed last week that the sale of the business and assets of Alito Color Group back to a previous director had been completed 2. Fire hits Crawley-based Swift...

Seven Days in Print: Egmont to launch Disney mag in UK.
April 22, 2011... Customer publisher Egmont is to produce Disney's DYOU magazine for its UK launch. The magazine, aimed at girls aged between 10 and 14, is part of a global roll-out following a successful launch period in Italy. Southernprint has printed...

Seven Days in Print: Number of ailing print firms falls.
April 22, 2011... According to the latest figures from Begbies Traynor's Red Flag service, the print and packaging industry is one of a only a handful sectors to show a year-on-year fall in the number of companies deemed 'at risk'. The insolvency practitioner...

Seven Days in Print: EFI beats Q1 sales guidance.(Financial report)(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... EFI has announced preliminary results for the quarter ending 31 March, reporting higher than expected revenues. The company had advised it expected sales in the region of dollars 128m (pounds 78.7m), but now expects up to dollars 140m for the...

Seven Days in Print: Sign & Digital UK awards results in.(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... Hollywood Monster and Service Graphics were among the winners at the first Sign & Digital UK awards, which took place last week at Birmingham's National Motorcycle Museum. The awards, which also presented attendees with a chance to...

Seven Days in Print: RP takes on CTP with H'berg spend.
April 22, 2011... RP Printers (Birmingham) has invested in a Heidelberg Suprasetter 52 to bring CTP in-house. Managing director Tony Hill said the investment arrives at a time when customers are demanding work even quicker than before. bit.ly/pw-22rp ...

Briefing: Counterfeiting - The Met zeroes in on forgers with focus on dodgy deals.(Serious Organised Crime Agency )
April 22, 2011... Bank note forgery may look like a licence to print money but the consequences if you're caught are severe - and the police are closing in. Two weeks ago, five men were jailed for a total of 29 years following an investigation by the Serious...

Briefing: Counterfeiting - Opinion - If a new client doesn't look legit, get them checked out.(Serious Organised Crime Agency)
April 22, 2011... SOCA takes a number of approaches to tackling crime. Not only do we do things the traditional way - through investigations, court cases and prison sentences - we also change the space in which criminals operate to make life difficult and prevent...

Knowledge Bank: Legal Notices.
April 22, 2011... This information is extracted from the printand 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 Art and Technical...

Knowledge Bank: Research - Fespa study highlights WF opportunities.
April 22, 2011... The economic downturn has accelerated the need for wide-format printers to become more growth-driven and improve operational effectiveness, according to new research. The study, conducted by Fespa in partnership with InfoTrends, surveyed 140...

Knowledge Bank: Killer app - Fuller in zoo balancing act.
April 22, 2011... Fuller Davies has continued to bolster its green credentials after printing its first job on carbon-balanced paper, part of a project for Colchester Zoo. The Ipswich-based business has produced an initial run of 10,000 souvenir guides, which,...

Knowledge Bank: EU Tenders.
April 22, 2011... PrintWeek cannot supply any additional information or pass on your details. These tenders are abridged. You must obtain a full copy of the tender before contacting any of the organisations listed. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council...

Agfa announces new Jeti and first UK Anapurna M1600 sale.(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... Agfa has unveiled the latest addition to its Jeti series of wide-format printers, the 5048 UV XL, which is targeting the 5m-wide UV inkjet market. The manufacturer's latest machine is available in two configurations: the first model is...

Latest Mondi grade designed for high-speed web inkjet.(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... Mondi has targeted the inkjet digital printing market with the launch of new paper grade developed specifically for Oce's JetStream high-speed inkjet web presses. According to Mondi, DNS high-speed inkjet paper has high smoothness and...

Kern releases card pick-&-place system.(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... Kern has launched the Kern 90 pick -and-place system, which features its RoboCard technology. According to Kern, the machine can place up to eight cards anywhere on a document and is targeted at printers operating in the retail, finance and...

US firm Tobias to launch two new products at Northprint.(Brief article)
April 22, 2011... Colour measurement systems manufacturer Tobias Associates is to launch two products to the UK at Northprint next month: its SD3-40 scanning densitometer and ink key presetting system Eplex. The SD3 can be used to monitor colour bars as narrow...

Flint unveils UV flexo ink for food packaging applications.
April 22, 2011... Flint Group has launched a low-migration UV flexo ink, Flexocure Ancora, in response to tightening legislation regarding food labelling and packaging. According to Flint, Ancora has passed a series of migration tests, conducted both...

Think Ambient extends product range.
April 22, 2011... Think Ambient, UK distributor of the Clings Digital product line, has extended its product range to include roll widths of up to 42in (1,067mm). The electrostatically charged polypropylene film can be printed on wide-format UV curable flatbeds....

pdfToolbox 5 launched by Callas Software.
April 22, 2011... Callas Software has launched pdfToolbox 5 which boasts a range of new features and native 64bit support. The firm said the software now has a file comparison feature that visually highlights any differences and includes batch processing so that...

Peter Turpin Associates investment.
April 22, 2011... Peter Turpin Associates has invested pounds 75,000 in a new Stahlfolder TH56 from Heidelberg in order to cut its turnaround times According to the commercial printer, the new machine offers a range of folds demanded by its customer base, which...

Product Portfolio: Wide-format - Me & my ... Inca Onset S40.(Product/service evaluation)
April 22, 2011... With a client list full of big retail names to keep happy, Kolorcraft bought this speedy digital press to stay at the cutting edge. Some would argue that Kolorcraft is a dark horse in UK print. Based in Ossett, West Yorkshire, the...

Product Portfolio: Paper - Star Product - Dufaylite Ultra Board.
April 22, 2011... Brighter and less prone to fading than its predecessors, this honeycomb substrate is being tipped as a real alternative to foam board. - What is it? Ultra Board is a lightweight 100% recyclable honeycomb board sourced from FSC-certified...

Product Portfolio: Pre-media - Star product - Screen PlateRite HD 8900.(Product/service evaluation)
April 22, 2011... If you're looking to replace a platesetter, this may be just the thing. - When was the machine launched? The latest in Screen's PlateRite range of thermal platesetters was unveiled at the end of March, and they started shipping from Japan...

Business: Retail Insight - Retailers are tuning in to the new stars of the POP scene.(British Retail Consortium )
April 22, 2011... Tough times on the high street reflect today's austerity climate in which print must work harder and deliver more. Retail has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. British Retail Consortium figures for March trading recorded the...

Technology: Wide-format - Always use the right tool for the job.
April 22, 2011... When it comes to the retail sector, where big clients require print products on a wide range of substrates across the whole gamut of processes, colour consistency is key. If you invited the various print sectors to represent themselves with a...

Business Inspection: Speedscreen - Saving money by consistent colour.
April 22, 2011... All printers want to be able to offer consistent colour at the highest possible quality. The problem is that with all the different variables, such as substrates, inks, etc, the ability to deliver standardised colour becomes more and more...

Business Inspection: Speedscreen - Profiling for a profitable printing firm.(Company overview)
April 22, 2011... Creating your very own colour profiles for every new substrate may be time-consuming, but it has given this firm an edge in the UV sector. The company Speedscreen was established in 1986 in Chatham, Kent, and has grown into a company with...

Community: This week in 2010 - 'Heidelberg to reveal B1 press at Ipex'.
April 22, 2011... Heidelberg was set to showcase its new B1 press, the 16,500 sheets per hour Speedmaster CX 102 at Ipex. The first machine had already been installed at Heidelberg's Wiesloch demo facility, a six-colour UV press with four Interdeck dryers,...

Community: Overmatter.
April 22, 2011... Easter's annual festival of chocolate has provided one printer with the inspiration for demonstrating just how clever it can be. Bristol's Hampton Printing is using the holiday season to alert its customers -and potential new clients - to the...

Community: Jo's help line.
April 22, 2011... Jo Francis, contributing editor of PrintWeek, tracks down the solutions to your technical troubles. Q: Please can you help? I need some spares for a BABS comb-bind punch, but I haven't been able to get any response from BABS and its telephone...

Community: Q&A - Karen Mason, Project delivery director, Brightsource.(Interview)
April 22, 2011... Karen Mason hit a certain milestone this year and while we're not going to say which, we can say she is married with two sons. She has worked in print since 1995 and says she has made some very good friends along the way. - Why did you get...

MPG unveils pounds 3m digital book spend.
April 15, 2011... MPG Books Group has announced that it is to make a pounds 3m investment in inkjet technology in a deal that it says underlines a 'fundamental' shift from litho to digital in the short-run book printing sector. At the heart of MPG's investment...

Paragon Buoyed by Euro Op as Profits Tumble at UK Arm
April 15, 2011... Paragon Group's latest accounts have revealed that while profits at its UK arm nosedived, the numbers were buoyed by the security print group's European operations. Operating profit for the entire group for the year ending 30 June 2010 fell...

Heidelberg boss hints at 'new fancy ideas' from Ricoh tie-up in time for Drupa 2012.
April 15, 2011... Heidelberg and Ricoh have hinted Drupa 2012 could be the backdrop for the launch of a number of jointly developed products. At a joint press conference last week on the eve of the Digi:media show in Dusseldorf, Heidelberg chief executive...

Magazine blog.
April 15, 2011... 'I'd love to know what the new Polestar pitch is' Jo Francis PrintWeek contributing editor Jo Francis asks, following the seismic changes in publication printing, how the print group will sell itself to investors to secure its latest...

Jobs saved as Character rescued.
April 15, 2011... Character DPM has been rebranded Character Media after the Mersey-side business was acquired out of administration by Magnadata Group, saving 111 jobs. Following the sale, which took place on 7 April, Character Media will operate as a...

Editor's comment: Digital print technology has revitalised the book sector.(Editorial)
April 15, 2011... In the past four weeks, the cover of PrintWeek has borne witness to some serious digital investment in the book sector - last month it was CPI UK and this week MPG. In days gone by, a print company spending a few million quid on new equipment...

Walstead completes pounds 20m acquisition of St Ives Web.(Wyndeham Press Group )(Brief article)
April 15, 2011... Wyndeham Press Group owner Walstead Investments has completed its pounds 20m acquisition of St Ives Web after it was unanimously approved by St Ives shareholders. The sale, which completed last Wednesday (6 April), makes Wyndeham Press Group...

Forger brothers jailed for 9.5 years each for pounds 17.5m scam.
April 15, 2011... Two sons of a former London printer have been jailed for a total of 19 years following an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) into their apparently legitimate print business, South Norwood-based PJB Printing. Phillip...

Inc Direct renews pounds 3m TalkTalk deal.(Brief article)
April 15, 2011... Inc Direct has cited its ability to add value as a deciding factor for winning a three-year contract renewal with TalkTalk worth pounds 3m. The Enfield-based business is handling the telecoms company's customer communications and welcome back...

Seven Days in Print.
April 15, 2011... 30%: Northprint - Proportion of companies exhibiting for the first time at the Harrogate show, according to organiser IIR, page 21 5: Insolvency Service - Options presented to respondents during a consultation on pre-pack administration deals...

Seven Days in Print: Chromoworks staff reject pay cut.(Brief article)
April 15, 2011... Staff at Polestar Chromoworks have 'overwhelmingly rejected' a 4% pay cut, part of a plan to cut costs at the site, according to Unite. The union's national officer Steve Sibbald said the proposed pay cut would have been for a six-month...

Seven Days in Print: Konica to feature AR at Northprint.(Brief article)
April 15, 2011... Konica Minolta is to bring augmented reality to Northprint, taking visitors on a virtual tour of its Harrogate location to showcase the dynamic possibilities of print media. The company will use Northprint's Printers' Profit Zone to...

Seven Days in Print: Inca Digital scoops Barclays prize.
April 15, 2011... Inca Digital chief executive Linda Bell has said she was 'delighted' after the inkjet manufacturer scooped the Barclays Corporate Award at the recent Cambridge News Business Excellence Awards. Inca sealed the prize after demonstrating 'market...

Seven Days in Print: Desmond print exit rumours persist.
April 15, 2011... Further reports over the future of Richard Desmond's newspapers have emerged, fuelling speculation that he is looking to offload his print assets. Last month it was claimed that Desmond-owned Northern & Shell had charged Barclays Capital...

Seven Days in Print: Whitehall moves to larger premises.
April 15, 2011... Commercial printer Whitehall Printing has said demand for print has outstripped capacity at its current premises, as it expands into a site almost three times larger. The Bristol-based company will move into a 696m2 factory later this month,...

Seven Days in Print: Quad/Tech patent appeal quashed.
April 15, 2011... A US federal court of appeals has rejected Quad/Tech's bid to overturn a lower court ruling, denying it an injunction against QI Press Controls for a claimed patent infringement. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington DC, affirmed...

Seven Days in Print: KCS Print launches W2P service.(Brief article)
April 15, 2011... KCS Print is offering free templates for its web-to-print service to help local businesses manage their print requirements online, 24 hours a day. The Launceston-based company's director Terrye Teverson said: 'This is an innovative new...

Seven Days in Print: DPP increases recycling to 97.7%.
April 15, 2011... The Digital Print Partnership has boosted its recycling levels from 60% to 97.7% after it implemented a recycling programme in March 2010. The digital printer focused on the disposal of its mixed paper, cardboard, aluminium drums, palettes,...

Seven Days in Print: Latest fantasy league winner named.
April 15, 2011... Bernard Healy's Scanplus Pathletic FC has been unveiled as the penultimate monthly winner of the Ricoh-sponsored PrintWeek Fantasy Football league. Healy's team scored 133 points in March to take the prize of two tickets to a Coventry City...

Seven Days in Print: Poll.
April 15, 2011... Q: Will giving creditors more power help cut pre-pack deals? Yes - 66% No - 34% Next question: Will the royal wedding be positive or negative for print? Have your say at printweek.com -------------------- Did you find this...

Seven Days in Print: Pick of the posts.
April 15, 2011... - HSBC's confidence in Pindar leads to pounds 13m debt facility Given the recent Walstead deal with St Ives, Polestar's potential takeover and this story, could it be that we are seeing the banks showing some confidence in the web offset...

Seven Days in Print: PrintIT! announces finalist s for 2011 schools awards.
April 15, 2011... 21 schoolchildren and teachers have been shortlisted for this year's PrintIT! Awards, with the winners to be revealed at next month's Northprint exhibition. Finalists were whittled down from nearly 17,000 entrants from 350 schools - three for...

Seven Days in Print: Who bought what.
April 15, 2011... - Fuller-Davies in Morgana investment Fuller-Davies has invested in a Morgana Digifold Pro and a Major Folder in a bid to eradicate a bottleneck in the company's finishing department. bit.ly/pw-15fuller - Precision Printing Co buys...

Seven Days in Print: Hot topics - The most read stories on our website.
April 15, 2011... 1. Polestar in talks with US-based Sun Capital, reports claim: 6,175 clicks Polestar could be on the verge of being sold to a major US-based private equity group, according to reports 2. Former Cromwell Press director to face fraud...

Briefing: Insolvency legislation - Industry waits as government moves on pre-pack problem.
April 15, 2011... Ministers have vowed to alter insolvency laws to make pre-pack sales clear and fair. But what changes are being proposed and will they work? Please take a seat before you read this article, you are in for a shock Earlier this month, the...

Briefing: Insolvency legislation - Opinion - Clunky proposals won't help creditors or stop phoenixing.
April 15, 2011... I am certain the government's new proposals will go some way to quell growing unrest about pre-packs, but am concerned the practical outcome will be 'phoenixing' in a different form and a reduction in returns to creditors. Some of the proposed...

Knowledge Bank: Legal Notices.
April 15, 2011... This information is extracted from the printand publishing-related notices that appear in the London Gazette. Further information is available from its website at www.gazettes-online.co.uk. Appointment of liquidators Kwik Communications...

Knowledge Bank: Event - Digital print website clinic comes to UK.
April 15, 2011... Digital printing initiative PODi UK is to launch the first of its season of UK events with a half-day seminar to help digital printers improve their websites. Taking place on 5 May at Konica Minolta iHub, 55 Baker Street, London W1U 8EW, How...

Knowledge Bank: Killer app - Special cover pulls out stops.
April 15, 2011... To celebrate the 20th birthday of leading men's magazine Esquire, The National Magazine Company worked with Colour Five to produce a special foiled cover for its April issue. The cover combined silver Mirri board, black and white foil and a...

Knowledge Bank: EU tenders.
April 15, 2011... PrintWeek cannot supply any additional information or pass on your details. These tenders are abridged. You must obtain a full copy of the tender before contacting any of the organisations listed. East Renfrewshire Council requires printing...

Antalis develops iPrint Pure 3D to 'add depth' to POS jobs.
April 15, 2011... Paper merchant Antalis McNaughton is targeting the point-of-sale market with the launch of iPrint Pure 3D, a 500-micron polypropylene film that displays a full 3D image when printed. The product can be printed using UV inkjet, Indigo...

Sun Chemical to launch low-migration inks at Interpack.
April 15, 2011... Ink giant Sun Chemical will launch low-migration ink systems Sun- Cure QLM and SunPak FSP at Interpack 2011 next month. SunPak FSP is a sheetfed offset ink system that meets safety requirements for food packaging, while SunCure QLM is a...

Mutoh rolls out 'stretchable' ink range.
April 15, 2011... Wide-format inkjet printer manufacturer Mutoh is targeting the large-format market with the launch of its CMYK-stretchable UV ink range, 3D UV. The company confirmed that the range would be distributed in the UK by Colourgen, after launching...

Enfocus adds multitasking features to Switch software.
April 15, 2011... Enfocus has unveiled the latest version of its workflow automation software, Switch 10, which features an improved core engine. Enfocus director of product management Elli Cloots said that the software now had an 'engine prepared for the...