Printing World articles from April 1999

Printing World archives from April 1999

WE Berry joins the 24pp club with #7m Sunday press purchase.
April 12, 1999... Bradford web printer WE Berry has begun installation of a Heidelberg Web Systems' Sunday press, joining an exclusive UK club of printers working with 24pp presses. The #7m investment is centred on a five-unit six-wide gapless web offset...

Hunter back with SP Print.
April 12, 1999... Michael Hunter of HunterPrint and Colorgraphic fame, is back in business. He has reappeared as executive chairman of the SP Print Group, Birmingham in an #18m management buyout. The #20m, 250 employee company has been bought by NatWest...

Microsoft gains grip with publishing patent.
April 12, 1999... Microsoft has been granted a patent over the use of style sheets and templates in a publishing system. While Microsoft's patent (US 5,860,073) relates to an electronic publishing system for viewing pages through a web browser, the...

Cavell: Quebecor in buying mood.
April 12, 1999... Quebecor remains keen to acquire printing companies in Europe, but its attention is focused on Germany rather than the UK. At a dinner in Canada, Charles Cavell, president and chief executive officer of Quebecor Printing, told his audience...

Cunningham buys Goldhawk.
April 12, 1999... Cunningham Graphics has bought Goldhawk Reprographics, a London company specialising in display and marketing print. It operates from three sites in the capital and offers large format digital printing, colour copying, offset printing and...

At the very top at Xerox.
April 12, 1999... Rick Thoman has replaced Paul Allaire as chief executive officer of Xerox. Mr Thoman joined Xerox two years ago as president and chief operating officer from IBM. He will retain the title of president. He recently told a US audience:...

Double for Newscom.
April 12, 1999... Newscom has announced acquisitions for both its newspaper and magazine divisions. It has bought Regent Publications, publisher of the Global Reinsurance Magazine from the Winchester Group. Two local newspaper titles in western Wales, the...

Three factories named in SE Labels plant cull.
April 12, 1999... Following the disclosure of 106 job cuts across the former food, personal care and beverage division of Ferguson International, now owned by SE Labels, (Printing World last week), the firm has announced where the cuts will come. As well as...

Sodra's new $20 rise.
April 12, 1999... Swedish pulp producer Sodra Cell is to raise the price of its pulp by $20 to $500 a tonne from May 1. This will be the second $20 price rise by the company in as many months. Nigel Holland, md of Sodra Cell UK says that the first of the $20...

Record results for Channel Isles' Guiton.
April 12, 1999... A new six-colour press and higher advertising revenues have helped Guiton, the Channel Islands' newspaper publisher, achieve record results for 1998. Pretax profit for the year ending December 31, 1998, rose 10% to #4.3m (#3.8m) from an...

Polestar lures Donaldson to East Kilbride.
April 12, 1999... Polestar East Kilbride is to have a new managing director. Arriving in Scotland on June 1 is David Donaldson, currently manufacturing director at Field Packaging. Stephen Brayden - who as director and general manager has been running...

Big wheels for Ry-Offset.
April 12, 1999... Ry-Offset Graphics, Leeds, has just completed a further investment intended to develop customer relationships with the arrival of a new 11 litre Scania delivery truck, resplendent in the firm's livery of red white and blue. The #160,000...

Optronics lines up EfP for UK ctp onslaught.
April 12, 1999... In a move to reverse what it regards as an anomaly, Optronics, the third largest manufacturer of metal plate ctp systems in the world, is beefing up its UK presence to end the perception that it is an also-ran in the ctp sector. The US...

Vio and Wam!Net share the honours.
April 12, 1999... The competition between global communications providers Vio and Wam!Net continues as Quebecor signed its first Wam!Net contract in France, coinciding with the opening of a Wam!Net office in Paris. As a first step, Wam!Net will undertake...

Ikon-Unisys print deal.
April 12, 1999... Ikon Management, London EC1, has won a three year facilities management deal to operate photocopying and printing for Unisys in the UK. It will produce 1.3 million copies a month for the company. Of this total, more than half will be...

Salehurst holds margins.
April 12, 1999... Salehurst, the magazine paper specialist, has shown good growth and an excellent retention of margins, depite a unit drop in the price of paper. Turnover is up from #31.68m to #34.44m, an increase of 8.7%, while profits increased 12.6% to...

Opinion: Old golfers never die.
April 12, 1999... Mike Hunter's return to the industry with the mbo at SP Print, Birmingham, is a nice reminder of how fascinating printing is for many of us. We often remind ourselves how much printing is a people industry with the people making our businesses...

Mbo gives Graphic Inline 40% growth.
April 12, 1999... Leicester direct mail printer Graphic Inline has been bought out by its management in a deal valued at over #10m. The mbo, backed by Lloyds TSB development capital, includes a #3.75m investment to increase the company's capacity by over...

Irish agent.
April 12, 1999... SJD, best known as an Irish inks distributor, has been chosen by Fujifilm Graphic Systems as its new dealer for consumable products in Eire. SJD has moved into the prepress consumables business to keep abreast of its competitors. Matt...

Three win Southernprint.
April 12, 1999... Southernprint has won the contract to print three new magazine titles - Garden Inspirations, launched by GE Publishing, and Procycling and Maximum Mountainbike, published by Cabal Communications. Between them, the magazines are 376pp, and...

New Sappi finance director.
April 12, 1999... Sappi has appointed Don Wilson as executive director of finance. He will succeed Bill Hewitt who retires at the end of May after 11 years with the group, but will remain as non-executive director. Mr Wilson, formerly a director with the...

50th Colour System 200.
April 12, 1999... The 50th Colour System 200 digital colour printer has been installed at the central London flagship store of Office 24 by Oce. Incorporating the Fiery 650C Rip/colour server which Fiery claims is the world's fastest, the CS 200 is capable...

Croda completes its #2.5m Newark revamp.
April 12, 1999... Croda Adhesives has completed a #2.5m investment at its Newark European centre in Nottinghamshire. The expenditure has included automated production equipment for water - based and hotmelt adhesives. Both have contributed to...

MAN Roland's big 64pp single web.
April 12, 1999... MAN Roland has thrown down the gauntlet in the battle for the next round of orders for European web presses with the first installation of a single web, 64 page Lithoman at Tusch-Druck, in Neudorfl, Austria. Heidelberg Web Systems,...

QTI buys Bomac.
April 12, 1999... The Californian manufacturer Bomac, one of the leading producers of hopper feeders for stitching and other forms of binding lines has been purchased by QTI. QTI of Sussex, Wisconsin, which has European offices in the Netherlands, is a...

Neil Henderson steps down.
April 12, 1999... Neil Henderson is retiring as chief executive of Curtis Fine Papers after 38 years in the paper industry. He is succeeded by Allan Milne, currently operations director, who becomes managing director, and Janey Hunter, who adds the role of...

Label Vision seeks to shine.
April 12, 1999... One of Britain's newest brightest label factories, Label Vision, Mansfield, put in a polished performance in a bid to prove its claim to be the UK's most hygienic label factory. The reason for the spotless start-up performance is that the...

More space at Lee James.
April 12, 1999... After ten years, Lee James Graphics Systems, Leeds, has outgrown its 2,500sq ft Bridge Road premises. The company has moved to a 6,500sq ft site at Thorp Arch trading estate, Wetherby. Lee James supplies a range of ancillary equipment...

Our expansion was too rapid admits SLS.
April 12, 1999... SLS Communications, the Swindon and Poyle printer, granted a High Court administration order before Easter, says too rapid expansion was to blame. "We have expanded rapidly over the past eight months - perhaps, in hindsight, too rapidly,"...

Quebecor's Sunday win.
April 12, 1999... Quebecor, Corby, has won the contract to print a new supplement for the Sunday Mirror about modern parenting. Written by childcare expert Penelope Leach, the 16 page guide will run for three issues, starting with yesterday's supplement focusing...

Polestar says farewell to North's ambitions.
April 12, 1999... Rob North, commercial sales director of Polestar Web Offset, is leaving the group and has begun six months gardening leave with immediate effect. He is apparently considering options inside and outside the industry. Group sales and...

Now at TCG.
April 12, 1999... Simon Cole joins TCG Production House, as senior account manager. In this role, he will focus his account management team on project management as a growing area in its own right. Previously he was with mailing and fulfilment company,...

Dowling succeeds Craggs at Mead Coated.
April 12, 1999... Nick Dowling becomes managing director of Mead Coated Board, Rickmansworth, next month. He joined the company as sales and marketing director in January in 1998. At the same time, Nick Craggs retires as managing director of the UK...

Boundy leads Scitex Vio efforts.
April 12, 1999... Simon Boundy is the new Scitex UK communications executive with specific responsibility for the development of Vio, the digital graphics network from Scitex and BT. Previously, Mr Boundy spent two years with Wam!Net/4-Sight in the position...

Moving up.
April 12, 1999... Artwork Systems Group, Ghent, developer of prepress software, has announced the election of Johan Volckaerts to the board of directors. He replaces Peter Hughes who resigned. Mr Volckaerts is chairman and ceo of Global Graphics and...

New board controls SE Labels.
April 12, 1999... Following the takeover of the SE Labels Group by Norway's Rieber & Son, a new board of directors has been elected. The new chairman is Tor Lund with the former SE Label Group Chairman, Ken Forster, becoming executive director and a board...

Multimedia specialist.
April 12, 1999... North-east of England marketing solutions provider NB Group has appointed Andrew Richardson as a multimedia specialist to its creative design team.

New post at Tektronix.
April 12, 1999... Keith Collins is to fill the newly created position of director of product & solutions marketing, Europe, for Tektronix's colour printing and imaging division, Marlow. Previously, he was business development director at Visitation Field...

Joint partnership sees Sappi branching out.
April 12, 1999... Sappi, the South African pulp and papermaking giant, is branching out with a new R110m lignin pulp plant, opened at the end of last month on the KwaZulu Natal coast. LignoTech South Africa is an equal partnership joint venture between...

NSPCC and Evolve in shock campaign.
April 12, 1999... The NSPCC has used 400 tonnes of Evolve Office, UK Paper's 100% recycled grade for a door drop to 23 million UK households to promote its Full Stop campaign, launched last month with a series of tv adverts aimed to shock audiences. The...

Finance chief takes Arjo top spot.
April 12, 1999... Courtney Candler, finance director for the past five years at Arjo UK Merchants has been appointed managing director. He replaces Graham Griffiths, who has been made regional director of Arjo Wiggins Merchants Holdings, assuming overall...

BUP's Polaris platesetter bucks the newspaper ctp trend.
April 12, 1999... LAUREL BRUNNER hears how the Polaris platesetter integrates easily with the multiple output systems at Bristol United Press. For some reason, the UK newspaper sector has viewed computer to plate technology with, at best, circumspection and...

`Perfect' binding with section sewn benefits.
April 12, 1999... Wessex Binding is able to offer its clients an exclusive binding service that crosses the boundaries of quality section sewing, but with the cost and production speeds of perfect binding. It is able to do this as a result of installing a...

Printability is now Plus.
April 12, 1999... With turnover up almost a third already this year, Printability, Stoke on Trent has decided to change its name to The Plus Group, a name which its managing director, Steve Bristow claims better reflect the direction of the business. He...

Amigo binder is a true friend to PCPF.
April 12, 1999... Small is beautiful is not a view most people would link with Muller Martini, for it is generally considered to be a provider of high end finishing solutions. This a clear misconception, and Point Control Print Finishing, Accrington, has...

SA Labels' third Nilpeter.
April 12, 1999... Yorkshire label printer SA Labels has invested over #600,000 on a new Nilpeter FS F3000 combi press. The highly specified machine which features moveable RSI screen units, uv flexo and inline cold foil transfer is the third Nilpeter to be...

It can be murder in the mailroom.
April 12, 1999... But not with our envelopes, Mech-Mail tells ROD HAYES. The water- company owned Telford envelope manufacturer prides itself on the quality and accuracy of its products which pay huge dividends when the client comes to fill the envelopes at high...

M600 chosen for Garnett Dickinson, Rotherham.
April 26, 1999... Thirty jobs are expected to be created with the installation of a Heidelberg M600 at Garnett Dickinson, Rotherham. Production from the new press will commence during September, as part of an expansion programme that has so far cost #2.75m....

Polaris wins Newscom hearts.
April 26, 1999... Newscom has announced its long expected decision to appoint Agfa as the exclusive supplier of a turnkey ctp system across five of its newspaper publishing sites. Based around Polaris 100 ctp units with Taipan Level 3 Ripping at Newport,...

Heidelberg shows SM52 and DI `neck and neck'.
April 26, 1999... The most plaudits for accessibility to product ideas on a stand would probably go to Heidelberg. The ease at which it was possible to weigh up the merits of printing four-colour process conventionally with the SM52, or on the significantly...

12th UK Galileo for Agfa.
April 26, 1999... Agfa's strong presence was marked by a full working demonstration of its Galileo B1 imagesetter, and the company used the exhibition to announce that it has notched up it 12th UK sale as well as its 100th Lithostar plate contract. The...

Fidia fast change over.
April 26, 1999... A feature of Northprint is the large number of stands with working exhibits. One catching a great deal of attention was a demonstration of a scoring, folding and forming machine manufactured in Italy by Fidia, and marketed in the UK by Fidia...

Another Komori double decker - for Dublin.
April 26, 1999... Komori chose to demonstrate its Lithrone 28 EM four-colour, a press that is tailored to the printer who is in the high quality B2 sector of commercial print. But the Japanese giant caused a real stir around the halls with the announcement...

Colourtouch orders Approval XP4.
April 26, 1999... Kodak Polychrome Graphics has notched up another order for the Approval XP4 proofer off its stand. Colourtouch, a Birmingham repro house bought an Approval, a Kodak CMS 640 silver recovery unit and a Mixer Multi chemical preparation system...

New levels of productivity.
April 26, 1999... The Ryobi 524 attracted strong interest with its semi-automatic plate clamps, advanced console controls which enable all functions to be controlled from the one point, and the automatic blanket and roller wash systems. Ry-Offset's Neil...

Healthy profits as St Ives wards off rivals.
April 26, 1999... Concentration on short lead, time sensitive products such as company reports, single colour paperbacks and magazines has helped St Ives Group avoid much overseas competition. It was this diverse product mix that enabled St Ives to see its...

Sugden resigns.
April 26, 1999... Brian Sugden, the St Ives Group director responsible for direct mail and former managing director of Hunters Armley has resigned. He will leave the company "at a date yet to be determined".

#1,500 fine after injury.
April 26, 1999... Heidelberg Graphic Equipment has been fined #1,500 with #925 costs in a prosecution by the Health & Safety Executive. The prosecution followed an accident to an employee of Carlton Barclay, Basildon, who suffered crush injuries to the...

S&G maintains eight-colour momentum.
April 26, 1999... Stephens & George Magazines has replaced its first eight-colour press with a new #1.5m Heidelberg SM102 eight-colour. The Merthyr Tydfil firm was one of the first UK printers to install an eight-colour four years ago. Last year saw the...

Xaar expands its posters to packaging printhead range.
April 26, 1999... Specialist printhead developer and manufacturer Xaar is expanding its range of piezo ceramic printheads to provide a number of solutions for high speed digital colour printing from posters to primary packaging. These details of its future...

Bobsts boost West Midlands diecutting.
April 26, 1999... QC Print Services has installed a Bobst SP102 E11 at its purpose built 6,000sq ft premises in Redditch, and is looking forward with enthusiasm to serving the busy B1 diecutting market for promotional material. This Bobst and the move to...

Barnes: `The man who understands'.
April 26, 1999... After 20 years with Wiggins Teape, John Barnes has become the new national accounts director. The appointment to the board gives Mr Barnes responsibility for all national accounts in the UK office products division. He has seven years'...

WPM acts for Faustel Excel.
April 26, 1999... Western Printing Machinery, Illinois, US, which has European headquarters in Leicester, has been appointed exclusive worldwide sales agent for Faustel's Excel uv coater. WPM says the coater is complementary to its finishing equipment, and...

Scitex debuts wide format printing for advertising advantage.
April 26, 1999... Scitex Europe introduced a series of wide and super-wide format printers at the opening of its new digital printing centre in Nossegem, Belgium, last week. The debut of the Scitex Grandjet V3 wide format printer and the Grandjet V5...

Xeikon new DFEs offer complete link for digital colour.
April 26, 1999... Xeikon has advanced into the commercial colour digital market with the launch of a range of digital front ends (DFEs) after the announcement of its acquisition of 80% of Nipson (Printing World, last week). The new Xeikon expert DFEs...

Printer sues in copier clocking allegations.
April 26, 1999... A printer, a charity and the oldest broker in Lloyd's of London are among the ten companies suing the giant US photocopier hire company, Ikon, for "clocking" its machines. It is claimed that sales staff acting for A:Copy and the Southern...

Artwork flotation.
April 26, 1999... Prepress software provider Artwork Systems is floating on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Artwork, which has works in Belgium, Germany, the US and Redditch in the UK, had an initial public offering of 4.4 million shares in 1996. The...

Supporting Valiano.
April 26, 1999... Fujifilm is introducing dedicated international support teams for the introduction of its Valiano digital workflow solution, first unveiled at Ipex. The company is building Valiano demonstration areas in its showrooms in Bedford and...

Exclusive supplier for Scitex.
April 26, 1999... Domino, the Cambridge industrial inkjet printer manufacturer, is to begin selling the Scitex 5240 and 5120 narrow format printers. The company says it will be the exclusive supplier of the two printers throughout the European market.

More previews - fewer proofs.
April 26, 1999... Price is governing ctp decision making across Europe and for new media both publishers and printers are demanding fast inhouse colour previews. There is no doubt that digital proofing is on a steep rise and its acceleration will coincide...

Sappi closure dodges cost of green compliance.
April 26, 1999... Sappi, the world's largest producer of coated paper, has announced the closure of its pulp mill and a coated base paper machine at Westbrook in Maine, US. Around 315 employees are affected by the shutdown, which will take effect in late...

Coriandoli excites Fenner.
April 26, 1999... Independent papermerchant Fenner Paper, Tonbridge, has been appointed as the UK distributor for Coriandoli, a new coloured paper range with "tinted inclusions" from Cartiere di Cordenons of Venice, Italy. Coriandoli joins the existing...

SNK boosts output by 10%.
April 26, 1999... Stora Newton Kyme, producer of board for the food industry, has increased production at its Boston Spa mill in Yorkshire by 10% with the introduction of a new steam system from Johnson Corporation, Ilkley. Johnson engineering manager Bob...

Double the stock in Dublin.
April 26, 1999... Bunzl Fine Paper has quadrupled the stockholding capacity of its Dublin subsidiary, DM Paper. The Irish merchant has moved to a new sales and distribution centre with the capacity to handle 6,000 pallets, or 3,000 tonnes of paper. ...

Tokyo office for Xaar's Asia market.
April 26, 1999... Xaar, the Cambridge developer of inkjet technology, is taking on the Japanese and Asia/Pacific market with the formation of a new office in Tokyo. It will be run by Yoji Nara, Xaar's new sales manager, who will co- ordinate the work of...

Colorman commission for Bild contract.
April 26, 1999... A German printer which has won a long term contract to print the Stuttgart editions of Europe's best selling daily newspaper has invested in a DM40m expansion, which includes a new MAN Roland Colorman system. Bechtle Verlag & Druck, which...

Master keeps going.
April 26, 1999... The rapid expansion of the US print group Master Graphics continues with the acquisition of Columbia Graphics, Chicago. Founded as recently as 1997, Master Graphics has grown through acquisition and now owns 19 print divisions in 14 states....

US quickprint expansion into eastern Europe.
April 26, 1999... AlphaGraphics, the US quickprint chain, is expanding into eastern Europe through the franchising of its Printshops of the Future stores. The group has signed an agreement with The Virtus Group, a multi- franchise holding company in Prague,...

Promoted to sales director.
April 26, 1999... Foil Ribbon & Impact Printing Group has promoted Shaun Morris to the board as sales director. He will continue in the role of major account development within the carton, greeting card and publishing markets. Mr Morris is also...

Three site responsibility for Brian May at RHTI.
April 26, 1999... Brian May, formerly technical director at Danielson, has joined RH Technical Industries, Andover, as operations director. In addition to his role as technical director, Mr May also held the position of production director with...

Gilbert is the new md.
April 26, 1999... Following a number of organisational changes which took place at Paxar, supplier of self-adhesive, woven and printed labels and tickets for the clothing industry, John Gilbert has taken over the position of managing director of the new UK...

First Bunzl Belfast gm.
April 26, 1999... Donald Murray Paper has recruited William Maconkey, as the first general manager at the Bunzl Fine Paper subsidiary's Belfast distribution centre. He previously held the position of Northern Ireland branch director at Wiggins Teape.

Premier specialist team.
April 26, 1999... Premier Imaging Materials has formed a specialist team to concentrate solely on the supply of wide format inkjet printing systems. The team is to be headed by Mike Hardcastle, and backed up by two regional managers, Darren Walker, covering...

Gorkem for Primarc.
April 26, 1999... Primarc UV Technology, manufacturers of ultraviolet curing lamps and compact systems, has announced further expansion of its sales team with the appointment of Gorkem Tuney as internal sales executive. Ms Tuney, a graduate from Sheffield...