Print Week articles from January 2008

Print Week archives from January 2008

Postal player TNT to offer print management after TDG tie-up.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Global delivery services giant TNT Post is offering print management services to its clients after signing a 12-month agreement with TDG Group. The private-sector rival to Royal Mail will use the tie-up with the London-based firm to offer...

Quebecor World issued with pounds 63m ultimatum.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Bankruptcy-threatened Quebecor World has two weeks to raise pounds 63m (dollars 125m) having been thrown a last-ditch lifeline by its lenders. In a statement released on 31 December, just two weeks after the collapse of the proposed sale...

MPI's Goodman Baylis buy lifts sales to pounds 65m.
January 4, 2008... Media and Print Investments (MPI), the private equity vehicle run by Mike Dolan, has kicked off 2008 with the acquisition of B1 and digital house Goodman Baylis and hinted at future deals. The deal to buy Worcester-based Goodman Baylis,...

Taylowe shuts after Colgate loss.
January 4, 2008... CT Packaging subsidiary Taylowe has closed with the loss of all 80 jobs following the removal to Europe of its major contract with Colgate. Taylowe, which was formerly one quarter of Polestar's Boxstar packaging division, went into...

RR Donnelley site closes for good.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... RR Donnelley's bookbinding business in Aylesbury has been permanently closed down following a massive fire last autumn. The company suffered a blaze at its Kadocourt site on 15 September, which was described by the local fire service as the...

Emap Communications sold.
January 4, 2008... Emap's last remaining division, the business-to-business publishing arm Emap Communications, has been sold to joint bidders Guardian Media Group and Apax Partners for pounds 1.26bn. The deal comes two weeks after Emap announced it would carry...

Torraspapel obtains FSC chain of custody certification.
January 4, 2008... Torraspapel, the paper manufacturer, has obtained FSC chain of custody certification, in addition to its PEFC accreditation. The award guarantees the wood used in pulp and papermaking comes from responsibly managed forests

Alcoa agrees to sell its packaging and consumer businesses.
January 4, 2008... Alcoa has agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses to New Zealand's Rank Group. In 2006, the firm generated pounds 1.6bn (dollars 3.2bn) in revenue. Alcoa has two UK packaging plants in Amersham and Sedgefield

Capital launches new website.(Website overview)
January 4, 2008... Capital, the east London-based large-format printer, has launched a new website. Capitalprint.co.uk allows users to view and download press releases and log in to a secure area. Russell Tookey, head of sales and marketing at Capital, said: 'We...

Baldwin Technology announces restructuring programme.
January 4, 2008... Baldwin Technology Company, the pressroom consumables supplier, has announced a restructuring programme. The pounds 480,000 plan is expected to save approximately pounds 1.2m annually, facilitated by staff cuts at the company's German operation...

Howard Smith Paper adds to its team of experts.(Jonathan Tame)(Don Turner)(Rob Botterhill)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Howard Smith Paper (HSP) has added the remaining appointments to its team of experts. Jonathan Tame, formerly of the Waste Resources Action Programme, is now on the Northampton-based firm's strategic business development team. Don Turner will...

Michael Phillips former md of Phillips Foils has died.(Obituary)
January 4, 2008... Michael Phillips, former managing director of hot stamping foil provider Phillips Foils, has died aged just 47. Philips suffered a heart attack on 11 December 2007. He leaves behind his wife Nikki and two children Ian, 16 and Lauren, 13

Correction.(Correction notice)
January 4, 2008... Correction: In the Technical Report of 13 December, we reported that Heidelberg's Dymatrix die-cutters were made on the Asian subcontinent. In fact, these are made in Moenchengladbach in Germany Sorry for any confusion.

MPG Books' owners eye move to print-on-demand after MBO.
January 4, 2008... MPG Books is to move into 'true print-on-demand' after being sold to its managing director and sales director in a management buyout first announced more than a year ago. In a deal completed in December, Tony Chard and Andy Simpson have...

West Ferry gets pensions boost.
January 4, 2008... Express Newspapers has said a pounds 10m injection into the pension fund of printer West Ferry by the Telegraph Media Group (TMG) is 'insufficient', despite agreeing to match the amount offered. The two had agreed to put pounds 11m into the...

CPD close to buyout by unknown bidder.(Creative Print and Design)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... A mystery bidder is in final negotiations to buy failed book printer Creative Print and Design (CPD), according to the firm's administrator. It is so far unclear who is planning to buy the firm, which went into administration with BDO Stoy...

Polestar hires Timmins as FD.
January 4, 2008... Polestar has filled the group finance director slot vacated by Peter Johnston last year with the appointment of Richard Timmins. Timmins, who has previously held senior finance positions with the Inland Revenue, HM Treasury and Arthur...

Print by numbers.
January 4, 2008... 30 - Jones and Palmer. Age in years of Jones and Palmer's guillotine, finally retired to make way for a new CCM machine, page 11 169 - Tangent. Percentage increase in pre-tax profits recorded by Tangent in 2007, page 17 290 - Prison...

Mailcom bolsters transpromo capacity with four new Oces.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Direct mail and customer communications firm Mailcom has broken new ground with the purchase of four Oce VarioStream 8650 high-volume continuous feed mono presses. The deal for the new machines, part of the company's pounds 4m upgrade...

Sales chief joins Iceberg PM arm.(Gary Petts)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Gary Petts has been appointed sales director of direct marketing agency Iceberg's print management division, joining from Access Plus where he held a senior sales role. Mitch Cornelia, Iceberg's production director, said: 'We are really...

Print management start-up offers 'unique' environmental service.
January 4, 2008... A print management firm that guarantees work will be produced by environmentally accredited printers has launched. Greenprint has been founded by Steve Wicks and Patrick Auer, the pair behind Essex-based print management firm Leanprint,...

Crucial Colour snaps up 6-colour Speedmaster.
January 4, 2008... Commercial printer Crucial Colour has increased the breadth of work it can offer with a new Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74-6. The company maintains a policy of replacing its machines every three to four years and already has plans to add a...

Target Direct rebrands itself as Brightsource.
January 4, 2008... Print and campaign management company Target Direct Print has rebranded itself as Brightsource. The company, which has bases in Cheltenham and Edinburgh, has said that the reason for the change is to reflect its move from print management...

Proskills trials mentoring scheme.
January 4, 2008... Printers could soon be sharing tips and expertise, as sector skills council Proskills pilots its mentoring scheme. The initiative would be largely web based, with printers encouraged to offer their services, as well as request help in...

Flavour of the month.(Christmas festivities)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... St Ives' large-format division, Service Graphics, joined in with the Christmas festivities at St Pancras station in London by producing the world's largest advent calendar. The 2,685m2 calendar, which was part of the station's 'Meet Me at St...

Legal notices.
January 4, 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 Academy Print...

Simon Berg takes up CEO role in second board reshuffle at FMG.(Chief Exicutive Officer)(Fresh Media Group)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Fresh Media Group's (FMG) joint managing director and co-founder David Brin has stepped down, leaving Simon Berg at the helm of the London-based pre-media giant. Brin's departure sparked the second management restructure of 2007 at FMG,...

NiXPS suite for XPS handling.
January 4, 2008... Belgian software developer NiXPS has launched a range of software that can handle Microsoft's page description language XPS. NiXPS View is a tool for viewing and searching XPS documents on both PC and Mac that provides visual searching by...

Pantone rounds off busy year by launching its colour network site.(myPantone.com)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Pantone has officially launched myPantone.com, the online colour network promised when the US firm unveiled its Goe colour matching system last autumn. Users of the site, which is primarily aimed at the pre-media and design communities,...

On a plate.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Envelope specialist SEM has become the latest firm to switch to Fuji's Brillia HD Pro-T plates and said it had have produced a run of 235,000 items using the product. The Derby-based firm, which employs 40 staff, is using a Lotem 800...

Xerox and Epson launch next generation of Stylus printers.
January 4, 2008... Xerox has partnered up with Epson to provide two new full-colour, photographic quality wide-format printers and will announce further launches this month. The Xerox/Epson Stylus Pro 7880 and 9880, which are specifically designed for...

US retail chain in POD drive.
January 4, 2008... Sam's Club, one of the largest warehouse clubs in the US and a division of Wal-Mart, is leading the print-on-demand charge with the installation of personal poster and signage printing systems in more than 580 of its stores across the country....

Tamar adds second Indigo to meet demand for short-run label work.
January 4, 2008... Tamar Labels has purchased a second HP Indigo press to print high-quality, short-run labels for smaller companies, following its rapid growth in 2007. Robert Lee, sales director at Tamar, said: 'We have seen very strong growth across all...

Dragon slayers.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... PMT Digital has helped to secure the most successful investment of the series on cult TV show Dragons' Den. The St Ives-based company printed the demonstration boards and information packs for Red Button Design which secured investment from all...

Sherwood eyes Eastern Europe with new Polish finishing site.(Sherwood Press)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... B1 and B2 printer Sherwood Press has opened a joint venture hand finishing facility in Eastern Europe. Solutions Polska was launched in the town of Rumia, close to Gdansk in northern Poland, at the end of November. Nottingham-based...

GAE guillotine for RL Moulton.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Long-established Blackpool-based printer RL Moulton and Sons has marked is 80th birthday by installing a new Perfecta 92TVC guillotine. The guillotine, which replaces a 14-year-old Schneider Senator, comes with enlarged side tables and...

Jones and Palmer boosts output with new CCM Premier guillotine.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Communications company Jones and Palmer has put to pasture a 30-year-old guillotine that finally gave up the ghost earlier this year. But the Birmingham-based company has moved on quickly after the loss and invested in a new CCM Premier...

Calderprint installs B2 Horizon combi folder.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Multi-sector printer Calderprint has installed a new automated B2 Horizon AFC-546Ajdf combination six-plate touch-crossfolding system from GAE. The machine features a large icon-based colour touchscreen with 17 standard fold patterns and...

Editorial: A year of M&A activity ahead, say printers.(Editorial)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Happy New Year! OK, so technically I'm three days late, but the sentiment's there. Once again we've welcomed the New Year with our predictions special However, this year we've gathered the thoughts of soothsayers from the coalface, so...

Comment: Print milestones for the new year.(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... That time of the year has come again to review a selection of printing anniversaries falling due for the year in prospect. Fifty years ago in 1958 some momentous books were phototypeset, printed, and published signalling imminent trenchant...

Talking business: Global cash injection and rate cuts show early signs of loosening credit squeeze.
January 4, 2008... Confidence is a fragile thing and like glass can be easily broken. But unlike glass, confidence can be repaired. The recent unprecedented announcement by the Bank of England and four other central banks that they would inject pounds 50bn into...

Profile: HMP Maidstone.
January 4, 2008... Inside job helps prisoners get the skills they need to build a career in printing. HMPS is investing in new equipment to help prisoners step into gainful employment, finds Adam Hooker. It is not particularly normal to walk around a...

New Year's predictions.
January 4, 2008... With another tumultous year behind us, we asked six print visionaries to dust off their crystal balls and give their verdicts for the year ahead. It makes for positive reading, you'll be happy to know. Dwindling margins, further...

Product Portfolio: Product of the week - Oce Variostream 9710.(Product/service evaluation)
January 4, 2008... This web-fed mono printer uses LED-based toner transfer to offer outstanding print quality, finds Karen Charlesworth. For a couple of years, monochrome digital print has been a three-way tussle between its key drivers: cost per copy, speed...

Product Portfolio: Me & my ... Epson Stylus Pro 4800.(Product/service evaluation)
January 4, 2008... Repro firm Zebra's technical director Paul Samuels is delighted with the speed, durability and high-quality output of the firm's Epson machine. - What do you use the machine for? We use it to produce high-quality final proofs for our...

Product Portfolio: Tried & Tested - Horizon VAC-Turbo.(Product/service evaluation)
January 4, 2008... Horizon's patented feeding system means a wider variety of stocks can be collated at high speed and with no adjustment, says Nosmot Gbadamosi. Japanese firm Horizon has been churning out quality machines for the post-press market since...

Product Portfolio: Buyers' Guide - Guillotines and materials handling.(Product/service evaluation)
January 4, 2008... Guillotine manufacturers have risen to the challenge of shorter run lengths by slashing their footprints while boosting automation. A growing proportion of print is being produced on more compact machinery in smaller environments, which has...

Product Portfolio: Joanne's Help Line - Student start-up & scales success story.
January 4, 2008... Joanne Gardner tracks down the solutions to your print problems. Q: I'm at uni and I recently set up a small business to help fellow students produce decent looking assignments. I'm gradually building up my printing and finishing services,...

Product Portfolio: Technical tutorial blankets.(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... One of the greatest 'false savings' in the industry at present is the use of blankets that reduce the productivity of the press. Most blankets used in the commercial print sector today are compressible, which means that they are designed to...

Product Portfolio: Diary.(Calendar)
January 4, 2008... JANUARY PrintLondon Conference Date: 17 January Venue: The Oval, London Price: Free Contact: info@printlondon.org IPIA's Winning strategies... remarkable results Date: 24 January Venue: Hellidon Lakes Hotel, Daventry Price:...

EU Tenders.
January 4, 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: Pilgrims' progress puts pin-up chart in a pickle.(Plymouth Argyle football club)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Any company thinking of joining the lucrative calendar printing market in 2008, take heed of the plight of Plymouth marketing agency Hype. Hype contracted the printing of Plymouth Argyle football club's calendar for 2008. ...

Post Script: Memory Lane.
January 4, 2008... ONE YEAR AGO - Financial printers were to be quizzed in a crackdown on insider dealing in the City... Royal Mail launched a print management tender valued at up to pounds 400m... Mike Newman left Charterhouse... FIVE YEARS AGO - Smith...

Post Script: Print's Past - Inside the M25.(Brief article)(Column)
January 4, 2008... I recently came across the MASC25 website which maps access to special collections inside the M25. So I searched 'printing' and 'typography' and came up with some interesting surprises. For example, I never knew about the Catherine Arthur...

Post Script: Q&A - Alan Pickles.(Interview)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... Alan Pickles is Clinical Print Finishers' production manager. He is 45 years old and has been in the trade for 28 years. In his spare time, he plays golf with a handicap of 11, his pet hate is people who tell 'porkies', and we still find it...

Charterhouse eyes acquisitions after BoS snaps up 20% stake.
January 10, 2008... Charterhouse is on the hunt for acquisitions in what it anticipates will be a difficult year for its rivals, after selling a 20% stake to Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance (BOSIF). The Hatfield-based firm, which broke into the UK's top...

Newsquest planning to close Newport plant.(Newsquest Media Group Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Newspaper group Newsquest is set to close its Newport printing plant following a review of its Wales and Gloucestershire sites. A 30-day consultation on the potential closure of the site, which prints the South Wales Argus, began on Monday...

Proskills looks to youth after trial-run success.
January 10, 2008... A Proskills printing scheme aimed at teenagers could go national after its Yorkshire-based pilot, in which pupils visited local printers, proved to be a success. A group of 24 students, studying for a BTEC in Art & Design at Barnsley...

Police warn of counterfeit activity.(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Police have appealed to the print industry to be aware of suspicious activity, following a number of recent arrests involving counterfeit currency. The appeal follows the arrest last month of a Worcestershire man caught in possession of a...

Academy Print saved from admin.(Academy Print Solutions)(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... A B1 printer in Yorkshire has been saved from closure after an eleventh-hour deal. Academy Print Solutions, in Bradford, was taken into administration by its previous owner, Resource Print Solutions, on 7 December last year. The...

Appointment at Associated Newspapers' Free Division.
January 10, 2008... Associated Newspapers' Free Division, which publishes morning freesheet Metro, has appointed John Leitch as its new executive director of distribution and partners. Leitch joined Metro from The Daily Mail in 1999 and takes over the position...

Taylor Bloxham continues charity efforts.
January 10, 2008... Taylor Bloxham has continued its charity efforts by donating pounds 500 to Age Concern, through its relationship with Plumbing Trade Supplies (PTS). The money was raised through a host of activities, including five-a-side football matches and...

Adare tweaks branding.(Adare Printing Group PLC)(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Adare has tweaked its branding, just a year after revamping itself and dropping its individual businesses' names. The print and print management group has introduced a new corporate colour palette to suit the increasing number of international...

DsiCMM awarded ISO 27001 certification.
January 10, 2008... DsiCMM, the direct mail group, has been awarded ISO 27001 certification to acknowledge its information security policy. The award recognises the London-based firm's 'confidentiality, integrity and availability of all corporate and customer...

Former RR Donnelley chief joins MidOcean Partners.
January 10, 2008... RR Donnelley's former chief executive Mark Angelson has joined private equity house MidOcean Partners as chairman. MidOcean, which is based in both London and New York, already has stakes in print and packaging businesses, including Bezier and...

William Pollard enjoys double success.
January 10, 2008... William Pollard, the Exeter-based printer, is enjoying double success after being awarded ISO 9001 quality management standard and ISO 14001 environmental management standard. Works director Allan Moxey said: 'We have always recognised that all...

Packaging consolidation rife as US giant sells site and rebrands.(Chesapeake Corp.)(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Packaging's biggest names have gone through another week of consolidation after Chesapeake rebranded and sold a plant to Mayr-Melnhof and Macfarlane Group bought a distribution specialist. Both Chesapeake and Macfarlane have said they are...

Polestar plots major digital push with multi-million pound spend.
January 10, 2008... Polestar has expanded its mono digital print capacity by half and hinted at a wider strengthening of its digital division. The group is this month commissioning a multi-million pound raft of Oce, Xerox and HP kit for its Polestar Direct and...

Quebecor hit by pounds 250m demand.(Quebecor World)(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Pressure mounted on bankruptcy-threatened Quebecor World this week as its creditors imposed further demands for repayment of loans. The firm is already facing a race to find pounds 63m by next Tuesday (15 January), but it also has to secure...

Printer accused of 'blackmail'.
January 10, 2008... An Irish print firm has been accused of 'commercial blackmail' by a newspaper publishing client in a disputed claim for pounds 8.3m (EUR11.2m) over an alleged breach of contract. The High Court in Dublin heard that Webprint Concepts, a...

Alderson buys Anicolor press.
January 10, 2008... Alderson Brothers Print Group has bolstered its environmental credentials and its litho battery by investing in a four-colour B3 Heidelberg SM 52 Anicolor. The West Molesey, Surrey-based operation took delivery of the press in December,...

CUP buys 900XXL with UK reverse sheet first.
January 10, 2008... Cambridge University Press (CUP) has installed the UK's first Roland 900XXL with a reverse sheet printing system, rounding off a major revamp of its press hall. The installation was completed last October and brings to an end a 10-month...

Reader reaction: What are the prospects for the print industry in 2008?
January 10, 2008... Last year was one of mixed fortunes for print, so we ask what the sector can expect this year. PRINT FINISHER - NIGEL CROOK, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BUCKINGHAM BINDERS 'I think the finishing sector will suffer a bit this year because of the...

Management acquires Mannin Media Group.(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... A management buyout has taken place at commercial and magazine printer Mannin Media Group. The company, one of the largest print businesses on the Isle of Man, deals with many of the island's leading magazines, such as Manx Tails, Manx...

Timely changes for Repropoint.(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Repropoint has kicked off 2008 with a move to new 270m2 premises in Portsmouth and an upgrade of its plan printing kit. The digital printer plans to capitalise on the ground floor area of the site, as the company previously operated...

Branching Out.(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... John Price, the West Midlands-based colour printer, has jointly sponsored the planting of an English oak tree to commemorate the 180th year of the firm and to mark becoming ISO 14001 and 9001 accredited Joint managing director Peter Harrold...

Legal Notices.
January 10, 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. WINDING-UP PETITIONS Blackdown Press Ltd Co...

FFEI taps into Far East's promise with new site.(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Former Fujifilm subsidiary FFEI has officially opened a Chinese manufacturing facility as it looks to establish a foothold in the potentially lucrative Far East market. The plant, located in China's Guangdong province, will manufacture...

Quark hits back with Alfresco partnership.(Alfresco Software)(Brief article)
January 10, 2008... Quark has stolen a march on Adobe by partnering with open source enterprise content management specialist Alfresco Software. Quark, whose eponymous publishing software has lost ground to Adobe's InDesign in recent years, has hit back with a...

Screen targets news industry.
January 10, 2008... Screen has launched a new platesetter, the PlateRite News 2000+, aimed specifically at the newspaper sector. The PlateRite News 2000+ is capable of imaging up to 106 broadsheet plates, or 49 panorama plates, an hour at resolutions of up to...

Design & Print Integration installs Heidelberg.
January 10, 2008... Design & Print Integration has installed a Heidelberg Suprasetter A74 with auto load to replace an existing Trendsetter. The Colchester-based B2 commercial printer will run Fuji's Pro-T chemistry-free plates on its new platesetter. Managing...

DAL to host first quarterly meeting on 14 February.
January 10, 2008... Digital Ad Lab (DAL) will host its first quarterly meeting of the year on 14 February at Publishing Expo, which is being held at Olympia in west London. The meeting, which starts at 9am, is likely to include an announcement of the 2008 DAL...

Heatset simulator used to evaluate employees competence levels.
January 10, 2008... Sinapse Graphic's International Heatset simulator has been used to evaluate the competence levels and training needs of 24 Quebecor World employees. The press minders were tested at the Quebec Institute of Graphic Communications in Canada in...

Agfa Graphics installs Polaris platesetters at Bangkok Post centre.
January 10, 2008... Agfa Graphics has installed two Polaris violet-laser platesetters with Sublima cross-modulated screening technology at the new printing and distribution centre of Thailand's oldest newspaper. The English-language Bangkok Post, which has been...