Printing World articles from August 2000

Printing World archives from August 2000

Italians could return Thomson Directory print to UK.
August 7, 2000... Print could be coming home for Thomson Directories following the company's acquisition by Italian publisher Seat Pagine Gialle for #468m including debt. Currently printed in Sweden and Spain, the new owner says it will be looking at ways of...

CreoScitex gives Littlewoods global colour control.
August 7, 2000... Littlewoods Retail produces two massive home shopping catalogues twice a year - the Littlewoods Catalogue and Index Extra. Each catalogue is about 1,000 pages in extent and images and text are brought together to create digital page layout...

Harlequin sparks Global Graphics' sales jump.
August 7, 2000... Global Graphics has not noticed a Drupa effect with sales in its second quarter up to expectations at E22.3m, while its pretax profits, expressed as Ebita (earnings before interest and taxes) was up 230% on the same period last year and 18%...

Mbo chance for Letts' management.
August 7, 2000... As the 300 staff at diary manufacturer Charles Letts at Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, start their busiest period of the year, the managing director Gordon Presley and his boardroom colleagues have taken on an additional burden - preparing a...

Brilliant DocuColor says Dudley.
August 7, 2000... Dudley Print, the printing arm of Dudley Stationery in east London is now one of the first six companies in Britain to run the new Xerox DocuColor 2060 digital printer. Dudley is running the top of the range four-colour machine alongside five...

Cambrian extension.
August 7, 2000... Two-year-old Bleddyn Richards, the son of Cambrian Printers' customer services team member Heather Gilmore, was given a big honour recently. Bleddyn took his bucket and spade to mark the start of Cambrian's #1.8m new headquarters development in...

BPIF reveals #1.2m deficit and its recovery plan for a new era.
August 7, 2000... The British Printing Industries Federation has come clean with its membership and with the UK industry as a whole. Our premier representative body, accused by many as being out of touch with today's fast changing graphics industry scene decided...

British digital book printers won't duck Lightning's strike.
August 7, 2000... News that Lightning Source, the major provider of digitally printed books in the US, is to set up in the UK, has been greeted with mild interest by the UK book printing community, which has itself invested substantially in digital technology....

Photobition snaps up Warrens in Leeds.
August 7, 2000... Warrens in Leeds, the UK's oldest recorded graphic photographic laboratory, has been acquired by the Photobition Group. Established in 1894, Warrens has built its name on providing a range of services from hand developing to large-format...

Merger costs cut into CreoScitex big achievement.
August 7, 2000... The first financial impact from the merger between Creo and Scitex's graphic arts business shows a massive company, but one recording a loss of more than $10m. Compared to the equivalent three-month period, CreoScitex shows sales of $162.6m...

Origin acquires assets.
August 7, 2000... Will Parker, managing director of Origin, the Hull repro and facilities management organisation, can be pleased with a recent piece of swift action. Although it is only eight months since he set up the company by buying the assets of the Kings...

Proper printers and the other lot.
August 7, 2000... Lunch with Nigel Toplis, the managing director of the Kall Kwik chain is a firm reminder of the strong position the quickprinters have in today's printing economy. And printers they still are and still want to be. Mr Toplis seems very keen to...

More sales needed to pay 2001 wages.
August 7, 2000... An analysis from the Plimsoll organisation says that many printers may not be able to afford next year's wage increases, projected as 3.5%. An industry study, monitoring nearly 900 printers, has shown that average salaries are likely to...

NEWS IN BRIEF.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Drupa 2000 has confirmed 413,500 visitors attended the fair from 171 countries during the two week period in May, up 5% from five years ago. More than 1,950 companies from 50 countries displayed their products. Price rises of up to 30% are...

Single print source for Leeds & Holbeck.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Alistair McIntosh with its headquarters in West Yorkshire, has been signed up by Leeds & Holbeck Building Society to supply its marketing print across its nationwide network of 61 branches. Leeds & Holbeck, the ninth largest building...

Q2 tough market catches printers out.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Printers face shrinking profit margins and are still waiting for the better trading conditions that they thought 2000 would bring, according to the BPIF's latest Directions survey. Overall, only 29% of respondents reported an improvement in...

Picon increases membership to 128.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Picon has boosted its company membership to 128 with the addition of 13 newcomers including such high profile names as Indigo, Busch and Duplo. The success of the Picon-led British exhibitor group to Drupa 2000 has also prompted a number of the...

Bowmans, age 23, is the new name in Leeds.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Bowman-Clarke, the Leeds printer, is to be renamed and will undergo a corporate rebranding exercise following expansion of its graphic design studio. The 23-year-old company, which will now be known as Bowmans, has already taken on a third...

Elf Media buys Triangle Press.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Triangle Press, Yatton has been acquired by Elf Media Group of Cardiff and has been renamed Elf Print Media. The 24-strong company is now under the leadership of a new managing director, Gareth Acreman.

SMART LABELS.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... A series of smart labels is said to be heralding a labelling system breakthrough. Developed by Renlim of Bradford and currently under test by Medasil, the Leeds manufacturer of medical disposables, the innovation is called Twin-Tab Tracker. The...

PAPER NEWS.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Tullis Russell spends #2m on stamp paper line Tullis Russell Coatings has commissioned a new, #2m coating, siliconising and laminating production line to support its market position in the supply of stamp paper. The line will also increase...

Service Point wins big with Kvaerner.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Service Point, a Spanish-owned business services company which operates in the UK, has won the contract to supply all the printing and repro requirements of the Anglo-Norwegian construction company Kvaerner. Service Point has a network of 80...

Spring mill strike bites into StoraEnso profits.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Despite big rises in paper prices, a strike among Finnish paper workers has held back interim profits at StoraEnso, where profits have declined by 11% in the second quarter. The fall was largely due to a week-long shutdown at Finnish papermills...

Lucozade promotion.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... It may not make you play like Alan Shearer, but Lucozade Sport is running a promotion on its labels which will allow the winner to spend a day training with the Newcastle striker. The labels were printed at Lawson Mardon Packaging's York site,...

Real ale coup for Sparkprint.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Calling all Camra members! Next time you find yourself supping a drop of Henley Bridge ale, it may be worth pausing to admire the label. Printed by SE Sparkprint, Northallerton, it has just scooped a bronze award in Europe's largest...

KPG's recipe colour wins GATF top award.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Kodak Approval Recipe Color software, the proprietary technology behind the Kodak Approval XP digital proofing system, has been recognised with a major international award. Recipe Colour has received the prestigious GATF InterTech...

Disability Act boosts Braille print workload.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Thanks to last year's Disability Discrimination Act, the Scottish Braille Press in Edinburgh has increased staff by 15%, to a total of 46 of whom some 80% are either blind or partially-sighted. Manager Jake Adams says: "The Discrimination Act...

UltraStream demand gives Indigo pain and pleasure.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Demand for Indigo's UltraStream 2000 seven-colour sheetfed press has been such that the company has been unable to meet demand. This fact is revealed in the company's second quarter financial results, which continue to show red ink on the...

Harmsworth Quays to host top flexo event.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Harmsworth Quays Printing, Associated Newspapers' Rotherhithe print centre, will play host to the world of flexo newspaper printing in October when the annual Flexo 2000 conference leaves the US for the first time. Phil Dimes, at HQP says:...

Jefferson Smurfit doubles Argentinean market share.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Jefferson Smurfit Group, the Irish packaging materials giant, has extended its operations in South America with the acquisition of Fabrica Argentina de Carton Corrugado (Facca), an Argentinean corrugated producer, for $10m. Fabrica...

Designer security labels for designer jeans.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Life is becoming far more difficult for counterfeiters in the fashion and IT sectors, thanks to De La Rue Holographics. The company is now one year into a pilot programme for Calvin Klein Europe, in which over 10 million swing tag holographic...

New one-stop image for Test Valley Group.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2000... Test Valley's design, repro, printing and new media services have been wrapped together and relaunched as Test Valley Group. Consequently, the Hampshire company is now billing itself as a one-stop resource for business communications. The...

Supply chain rumpus could savage printers' share.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... A magazine supply agreement between WH Smith and Tesco threatens to put up to 10,000 independent newsagents out of business and seriously disrupt the wholesaler supply chain, the Periodical Publishers' Association warns. It is also estimated...

Absinthe comeback.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Absinthe, the drink of choice for the discerning Parisian bohemian a century ago, is said to be heading for a remarkable comeback. And to help it on its way, Lanchester Wines has decided to launch a range of absinthe alcopops called Green Fairy...

Kip UK wide awake with wide format scanning.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Kip UK is planning the first major showing of its new range of wide- format scanners and KipStar web-enabled, wide-format printing systems at A/E/C/ Systems UK 2000, a leading IT business exhibition comprising architecture, engineering and...

Babs spotlights new Euro rules on guillotines.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Finishing and shredding equipment supplier Babs International has issued advice to pre-1995 Ideal guillotine users about revised Health & Safety guidelines. The new guidelines are based on EN1010, a new European regulation for printroom...

Piranha software bites into compression times.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... A new file compression software program is being tested by publishers and repro houses in London ahead of a commercial introduction of the technology which promises to offer completely lossless compression should the users want it. Impact...

Ritrama expands with Italian addition.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Ritrama, a worldwide group which produces self adhesive labels, has expanded its European operations with the acquisition of Italian roll label materials manufacturer Nuova Fad. The group believes this will be good news for Ritrama UK as it...

Major award for Westcountry Design & Print.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2000... Westcountry Design & Print with factories in Exeter and Plymouth has been honoured with the Ifra International Printing Quality Award. Presented every two years, the award is for Westcountry Design & Print's printing of The Express & Echo,...

New labels for Glenfiddich.
August 7, 2000... New labels being printed by Walsall Litho for what is believed to be the world's most popular single malt Scotch Whisky will refer to the age of the product for the first time in 20 years. Walsall is printing the new labels, for 70cl and 35cl...

TICKET to ride.(Magnadata, UK ticket printer, changes hands)
August 7, 2000... Who would have thought that tickets for the New York Subway, City Rail in Sydney and the Calcutta Metro are printed in Boston, Lincolnshire? ALEX GRANT reports Magnadata is best known for printing London Tube tickets. Its new md Roy...

Two more years of paper price rises?
August 7, 2000... Paper prices in Europe could carry on rising for at least another two years, according to new research by City analysts. According to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter figures Europe is lagging behind the US where newsprint and lightweight coated...

Quebecor World record.
August 7, 2000... Thanks to the World Color acquisition, Quebecor's sales and profits now stand at record levels. In the three months to June 30 sales reached $1.5bn, 64% up on a year ago. Profits grew by 95% to $168m. However, the growth seems to be down to the...

Kalamazoo's zest.
August 7, 2000... More healthy results at Kalamazoo, which is in the black for the first time in three years. The IT and printing group achieved sales of #59m and profits of #339,000 in 1999-2000, compared to sales of #56.7m and a #607,000 loss the year before....

Smurfit goes Danish.
August 7, 2000... Jefferson Smurfit has bought Neopac, a Danish corrugated board company, from SCA for E30m. Neopac has two mills, turnover of around E60m, and produces 65,000 tonnes of paper a year. If it takes over, Jefferson Smurfit will have 17% share of the...

Danka dampener.
August 7, 2000... Things are not getting any better for Danka Business Systems, the printer and copier manufacturer which has recorded quarterly profits of just $1.8m. In 1999 Danka recorded a 9% fall in sales but also $42.3m profits, as opposed to a $12.7m loss...

Photobition's US woes.
August 7, 2000... Photobition has issued a trading statement, confirming rumours that it was facing a big fall in profits because of problems at its US divisions - but adding that once these have been overcome the company is on course for better results next...

Huge global film deal.
August 7, 2000... THE SURREY THERMAL laminating specialist Capsulam has signed a major deal with Photobition to supply thermal laminating film to Photobition and its worldwide subsidiaries. Photobition says the deal will save $1m per year.

Double ImageX.com.
August 7, 2000... IMAGEX.COM, THE US print site, has reached third quarter sales of $7.1m, 151% more than a year ago, and profits of $2.4m, a 237% increase. It also completed two acquisitions: Creativepro.com and the Howard Press. The website has recently been...

Diamond overprinting with Pamarco Technologies.
August 7, 2000... US company Pamarco Technologies is developing its presence in the UK and Europe, particularly in the flexo, offset and gravure sector with a series of acquisitions. The group structure now includes Character Machinery, Sentinel Ink...

MGS offers low cost imagesetter.
August 7, 2000... Marlowe Graphic Services believes its newly launched MGSprint will widen the options for those companies seeking an imaging solution for the first time. Steve Opie, the sales director at Marlowe Graphic Service says: "At the entry level, there...

ENVELOPING magic.
August 7, 2000... Direct mail continues to grow and become ever more ingenious. But as JIM LARKIN discovers, the humble envelope can make or break a campaign. He talks to Olwen Direct Mail about the latest initiatives to wrap up the mail drop Depending on...

First impressions count.
August 7, 2000... John Burbidge, managing director of SR Communications, says: "The envelope is vitally important. If you do not strike a chord on the envelope, forget the rest. Around 30% of junk mail is unopened. No matter how creative, the enclosures will be...

Ask the expert.
August 7, 2000... Before you let the design agency get too carried away with its fancy schemes for the envelope, it may be worth talking to the people who actually have to handle the post to ensure their ideas are practical. Significantly, Adam Sherman, managing...

Playing your cards right.
August 7, 2000... Twenty-four years after starting business in a garage, the Moger brothers have installed the UK's first ten-colour MAN Roland 700 press. ALEX GRANT visits Richard Edward David and John Moger have some novel advice for the printing...

All hands on decks.
August 7, 2000... Although there are many European printers that can print playing cards more cheaply and at as high a quality as the British, Richard Edward still derives around 20% of its turnover from them. "Every household has at least one pack," says Dave...

Browsing in the SUMMER SUN.
August 7, 2000... The holiday market is still big business to print. JAQ BAYLES puts on her raincoat to go and find a little sunshine in the British summer Gunmetal grey skies, the constant threat of rain in the air, temperatures lurking around a modest 15...

Eve off the presses for the BBC.
August 7, 2000... Last week was notable for the launch of possibly the first women's magazine in the history of the genre to actually contain some thought- provoking articles, as opposed to 600 pages of adverts for perfume. Eve is the biggest launch yet by...

GETTING THERE... Murray Lock, PPS director of marketing.
August 7, 2000... MURRAY LOCK, director of marketing for PPS, has spent his career exclusively with the UK's distributor for MAN Roland presses and other leading graphic arts suppliers. He was recruited by the company's legendary chairman Eric Tanzer. He became...

Networking as naturally as you can.
August 7, 2000... Some people find it easy, others have to work at it. MARION WILSON says you need to differentiate between business and personal networks Success at work, especially if your job involves managing people, relies very much on an ability to...

PEOPLE NEWS.
August 7, 2000... * Alistair McIntosh has promoted Arthur Robinson from the post of operations manager (outsourcing) to operations director, supply chain solutions, following its move to new, 70,000 sq ft premises. * A web offset printer has gone outside the...

DSM doubles up.
August 14, 2000... DSM, the Dutch supplier of print coatings, has achieved the best quarterly results in its history, thanks in large part to higher demand for coating resins. Its performance materials division, which includes print coatings, saw turnover grow by...

Parkhill causes printer jitters.
August 14, 2000... Polestar Watmoughs seems to have had a narrow escape following the voluntary liquidation of Parkhill Publishing, the magazine company launched last year by Eve Pollard, former editor of the Sunday Mirror and Sunday Express. Watmoughs has been...

B&T spends #6m and stays large format.
August 14, 2000... Butler & Tanner, the Somerset-based book printer with designs on the quality commercial colour market, is spending #6m this year to add to capacity and to further advance its large format policy. KBA UK is again the main beneficiary having...

Astron is #25m print partner for Compass.
August 14, 2000... Astron has been appointed by the giant hotels-to-catering group Granada:Compass as its print management partner for a five-year contract believed to be worth #25m. Aston chief executive David Mitchell comments: "To be involved with...

Scots unique #100 note for Queen Mother's 100th.
August 14, 2000... It's not often that the bank manager makes a special effort to give you money and hand it over, but neither is it very often that a Queen Mother celebrates her 100th birthday. The Royal Bank of Scotland decided to mark the occasion with the...

Steve Hart for St Ives.
August 14, 2000... St Ives Multimedia, in Tunbridge Wells, is getting a new managing director later this year to replace Ken Pardey, who has announced (see page 31) that he plans to retire from the St Ives board. The new boss will be Steve Hart, currently...

Manor Park Press branches out.
August 14, 2000... Manor Park Press in Eastbourne has decided diversification is the key to future success and is branching out into a range of services beyond traditional ink on paper. The company is changing its name to Manor Creative to better reflect its new...

IMPAC move in DVD market.
August 14, 2000... IMPAC, the US packaging group with substantial production facilities in the UK, has acquired the privately held DuBois Holdings, the worldwide licenser of the Amaray top-selling DVD package. IMPAC is Europe's premier supplier of printed...

Germany to sell state printing works.
August 14, 2000... The German government is reported to be planning the sale of its banknote printing operation, the Bundesdruckeri in Berlin, in a transaction that could be worth as much as #200m. The German finance ministry has appointed Bankhaus Metzler to...

Halcyon wins M&S financial print.
August 14, 2000... Marks & Spencer has halted its transfer of print requirements overseas by awarding Halcyon, of Huddersfield, the contract to supply print for its Financial Services division. Ironically for Halcyon, formerly Waddington Business Forms, the huge...

West Ferry signs Agfa to keep it green and clean.
August 14, 2000... The twinkling lights of the West Ferry Printers' plant pictured at night indicates a factory working 24 hours a day in a riverside location of a mixed business and residential community. As a consequence West Ferry has long since been a...

Digimasters set the pace in Barking.
August 14, 2000... As Xerox and Heidelberg size up to each other in the digital battlefield, Prontaprint's large and modern Barking branch says it will increase productivity by 60% or more through replacing a six-year-old Xerox DocuTech with two new Heidelberg...

Twin high volume Oces for SR.
August 14, 2000... SR Communications in south-east London has bought two Oce PageStream 440s, its first digital web presses, to enable it to personalise direct mail jobs of 500,000 or more. Mick Schneider, divisional director of SR Computing, the company's...

Royal Mail to sponsor 12th ECMOD.
August 14, 2000... Royal Mail has agreed for the third consecutive year to be lead sponsor for the European Catalogue & Mail Order Days exhibition. Other sponsors of ECMOD 2000 include Cradley Print, e-Net Technology and Sanderson CFL. The expanded event,...

Sappi powers up in Blackburn.
August 14, 2000... Scottish Power has begun the construction of a #40m gas fired plant to service Sappi Fine Paper Europe's Blackburn woodfree coated mill. Scottish Power's largest ever CHP plant will give Sappi the 10MW of electricity and the 30 tons of steam...

PrintCafe's bold step to grasp JDF.
August 14, 2000... Described as "a bold step which makes sense for the industry", printCafe has announced it will incorporate the job definition format JDF into its PCX integration system. The company says this shows its commitment to open standards in its...

Hardy Business Forms throws in the towel.
August 14, 2000... A second bombshell hit the Yorkshire printing industry last week with the news that Hardy Business Forms, Castleford, has called in the receiver. The appointment leaves 200 people fearing for their jobs and comes just days after York Direct...

South coast duo creates digital power.
August 14, 2000... Two south coast printers have joined forces to create a #3m-turnover operation in Brighton. Digital print specialist XPS, of Portslade, has formed a subsidiary, XPS.Colour, which has acquired the business of digital and offset litho printer...

Sir Speedy gives the Digimaster a global OK.
August 14, 2000... US firm Sir Speedy has put Heidelberg's Printmaster QM 46 print system and Digimaster 9110 on an approved purchase list for its network of 1,100 franchises in 28 countries. The network includes almost 700 franchised printing, copying and...

Shipping waste out.
August 14, 2000... Marks & Spencer is experimenting with shipping its packaging waste out of its London stores and up the 157 mile long Grand Union Canal to a recycling plant in Birmingham. M&S produces 25,000 tonnes of cardboard waste a year and recycles 80% of...

Reed Elsevier spends on Internet.
August 14, 2000... Publisher Reed Elsevier has increased turnover from #1.7bn in the first half of 1999 to #1.8bn this year. Its interim results show a significant increase in investment to #110m - primarily in Internet activities - has been offset by an...

Brier Press puts its prices online.
August 14, 2000... Brier Press has launched what it believes is the first online litho and digital print pricing engine. The facility is part of the High Wycombe- based company's new website www.brierpress.com launched two weeks ago to provide visitors with...

KPG names its Mr Proofing.
August 14, 2000... Kodak Polychrome Graphics has promoted Craig Robertson to product marketing manager for proofing in the UK. He joined Kodak Graphics in 1994 as part of the demonstration team after experience in the trade as a scanner operator and retoucher....