Printing World articles from December 2003

Printing World archives from December 2003

Three years of losses drag down WE Berry.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Long established independent family owned web printer WE Berry is in the hands of administrators from KPMG, with the future of the #16m business in doubt. Paul Flint and Richard Fleming, as joint administrators, took control of the Shipley...

Jenkinson is MLP chief.(Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses UK promotes Roy Jenkinson)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The top job at Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses UK has gone to Roy Jenkinson, its current technical sales director. He is to succeed Takeshi Kotani who is to return to Japan after five years at the helm. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, MLP's...

Suppliers: correction to report.(Correction Notice)
December 4, 2003... Printing World's examination of the filed accounts of suppliers to the printing industry contained a glitch regarding Kolbus UK and Robert Horne. Kolbus has no need to file complete accounts as it is defined as a medium sized business. ...

Institute of Packaging - appointment.(Lynda Purser appointed chief executive )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The Institute of Packaging has appointed Lynda Purser as chief executive effective January 1, 2004, in preparation for John Webb- Jenkins' retirement next May. Ms Purser will relinquish her role as executive director of Milton Keynes,...

Tabbers move.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Tabbers has moved to new 7,000sq ft premises in Harlow. The move means that production and warehousing will be under one roof and will improve services to clients. Tabbers will now be able to hold larger stocks of materials on site, thereby...

Pressicion and Parceline liaison.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Printing company Pressicion, part of the Adare Group, and Parceline joined forces to successfully manage Abbey's business relaunch. The companies' contract demanded total accuracy and timely liaison - 27,500 parcels had to be delivered to 900...

Target Direct Print to manager print.(Duke of Edinburgh Award contract)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The Duke of Edinburgh Award has selected Target Direct Print to manage its entire marketing print activity. The printer has been given a rolling contract to supply all of the Award's print, collation and distribution management requirements...

RealTimeProof is proving a success.(HH Associates contract with CarPhone Warehouse)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... RealTimeProof is proving a success for HH Associates in Sutton and its clients. CarPhone Warehouse or The Phone House as it is known in Europe, is utilising the tool for its monthly European Buyers Guide. The company's recent #40m agreement...

Heidelberg goes back to focus on sheetfed.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Heidelberg is going back to basics with a new strategy that focuses on its traditional sheetfed market in an attempt to return to profitability. It is the most radical in a series of restructuring announcements that have seen it shed over...

3i buys Trinity's NI titles.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Trinity Mirror has found a buyer for its regional titles in Northern Ireland, put up for sale by chief executive Sly Bailey on July 31. 3i, the private equity group, is paying #46.3m for the Belfast News Letter, Derry Journal and a number...

MetroMail up for sale.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... MetroMail, one of the largest mailing houses in the UK, is up for sale along with the rest of its parent company Saga. Saga, the holidays and insurance group for the over-50s, has appointed UBS to advise on a flotation, trade sale or...

Advertisers unhappy about need for different formats for tabloids.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Advertisers are squealing over having to supply ads in different formats to support the dual editions of the Independent and the Times. The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers is urging its 300 members to complain about being...

Advent - appointments.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Advent 3B2 developer of 3B2 has made two senior management appointments to its sales and marketing team to promote its recent release 3B2 V8. Simon Jackson will become global marketing manager and Richard Wall will become senior vice...

Xplor - appointment.(Jonathan Michael )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Jonathan Michael has been appointed to the board of directors for Xplor UK and Ireland. Mr Michael, who will retain his post as managing director of JMCL Consulting, is delighted by his new appointment. `Xplor is at the vanguard of...

M and C Saatchi contract.(2012 Olympics)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... M&C Saatchi has won the contract to campaign for the Olympics to be held in London in 2012. Its customers already include Transport for London, AA and various blue chip companies including Bradford & Bingley, Dixons and Gallahar. ...

Future Network enjoys strong growth.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Future Network says that it is enjoying strong growth from its games magazines in the UK. Future says the positive trends of the first half had continued over the past six months allowing the board to feel confident of meeting City analysts'...

Expanded education networks.(Electric World acquires Primary File Publishing )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Electric World, the specialist publishing company chaired by Nigel Wray, has expanded its portfolio of education networks. The AIM listed company is buying Primary File Publishing for #1.1million. Primary publishes information files, which are...

GPMU chiefs choose to merge with Amicus.(Graphical Paper and Media Union)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The GPMU's National Executive has voted in favour of a merger with Amicus and rejected a possible link-up with the Transport and General Workers' Union. The National Executive has preferred to merge with the more white collar Amicus, which...

LCP makes name change.(London College of Printing changing name to the London College of Communication)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The London College of Printing is to become the London College of Communication from late Spring 2004. Dr Will Bridge, head of the LCP says the new name better reflects the college's current and future areas of specialisation within the...

Communisis warning.(profit warning)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Communisis has warned that profits for 2003 will be hit by tight margins in its Personalised Products division, which prints direct mail and cheque books. Although turnover is expected to be up 5% in the second half compared to 2002, price...

Oce - appointment.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Oce has appointed Malkon Baboyian as president of the digital documents systems division of Oce North America. Mr Baboyian moves from his position as president of Oce USA and replaces Tom Long. Joseph Marciano has been appointed interim...

Cats awarded Xerox Business Partner status.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Cats Solutions has been awarded Xerox Business Partner status for its full range of desktop printing and multi-function copiers. Managing director Greg Smith says this is the first integrated solution of its kind in the UK and gives customers...

First UK printer to install Docucolor 5252.(John E Wright )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... John E Wright has become the first UK printer to install the Xerox Docucolor 5252 digital press. The machine, which launched in October 2003, has been supplied by value added reseller ROI Distribution and increases the Midlands' printer's...

One-stop shop for mailing campaigns.(RPM Print and Design and Marketscan team up)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Chichester's RPM Print and Design has teamed up with Marketscan, the database and mailing list company, to provide businesses with a one- stop shop for conducting mailing campaigns. Jonathan Harry, managing director of RPM, says that with...

Study of banknote printing.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Pira has launched a study into banknote printing. The report is aimed at security technology suppliers, state printing works, high security printers or banks and examines among other things whether polymer will replace paper as the main...

Reed abandons move after Washington fire.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Reed Print and Design has had to abandon a proposed factory move because of the disastrous fire at its Washington print site, just hours before production was due to be moved there. The Tyneside company had been planning to move direct mail...

Polar's hot launch.(new guillotines)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Polar has introduced its latest generation of guillotines which features full network capabilities and turns the cutter into the `server' that runs peripheral equipment. The new model is called the X, meaning tenth generation, with a...

In the ascendancy.(2004 HiFi Industrial Film calendar )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The 2004 HiFi Industrial Film calendar involved design and print teams in some challenging processes from the intricate design of the astrological calendar to the final printing run onto 125 micron polyester metallised film. Bedfordshire...

Kirklees returns to print with Digimaster investment.(Kirklees County Council )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Kirklees County Council in Huddersfield has moved back into print with an investment in three Digimaster 9110 black and white presses, two 665 scanners, Plant Press variable data software and a Polar 78 guillotine. Six years ago the...

In brief: Digital print world.
December 4, 2003... Exhibitors suggested that visitors spent a fair amount of time at each stand and one who spent a long time at the Graphic Arts Equipment stand was Kevin Assinder, md of The Complete Product Company, Malmesbury. He bought a Horizon 270 Touch...

Show to grow in size at Olympia next year.(Digital Print World )(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 4, 2003... Digital Print World will return to Olympia next year, but with more space following the success of the inaugural exhibition last week. The 2004 event takes place a month earlier at the end of October and will cover two floors of the...

Digital books are hot topic.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Digital book production is definitely today's hot topic with over 50 delegates attending a seminar devoted producing books on demand. Suzanne Wilson-Higgins, commercial director of Lightning Source, says: "You must study the value chain in...

Top panel for debate.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... A well attended question time session on the merits of digital printing drew an expert panel in the shape of Polestar ceo Barry Hibbert, Gordon Hill, chairman of Basingstoke Press and 1st Byte founder Lawrence Dalton. While coming from very...

Short run is the key says Purushotham.(Venkat Purushotham in digital printing)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... One to one marketing is not a key driver for digital print, Venkat Purushotham, ceo of NexPress told the Digital Print World conference, overturning previous conceptions. Instead he says the majority of work is short run repeat work and...

In my opinion: Graham Leeson.(Letter to the Editor)
December 4, 2003... I read with interest the article in Printing World (November 20) from Creo's Mark Nixon on why print buyers should prefer thermal imaging. If investing in capital equipment, in this case ctp, wasn't such a critical decision for many printers, I...

Telegraph likely to stay at Ferry.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Printing of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph is likely to remain at West Ferry Printers regardless of the papers' ownership. Sources close to Express Newspapers' proprietor Richard Desmond have said he is in "an interesting...

Printech pair deny lying.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Maqbal Ahmed, 48, owner of Printech Printers in Ilford, and a Labour councillor's agent are denying lying to the police during a probe over last July's Redbridge council by-election. The agent, Andrew Lester, 25, forged invoices and lied to...

St Bride set to win its independence.(St Bride Printing Library)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The St Bride Printing Library, Fleet Street, is winning its independence after many months of negotiations by the St Bride Foundation Institute and the Corporation of London. The deal, due to be completed in March, is that the Corporation...

COMMENT: Setting a course for calmer seas.(Heidelberg)(Brief Article)(Column)
December 4, 2003... How Heidelberg responds to its current crisis is going to be spelled out next week. We know it is negotiating over its web business and that digital too needs urgent attention. We can be sure that there will be less talk of domination and...

Letter: Vultures reviving the carcasses.(Letter to the Editor)
December 4, 2003... I read the article `Close Call' jaw agape. As I'm sure most printers would agree, the reason paper companies are beginning to stop supplying phoenix companies is not because they are taking a moral stand, but because they can no longer...

Letter: Don't run down digital.(Letter to the Editor)
December 4, 2003... Picking up on the ongoing debate emanating from a recent article `Waiting for the flood' (Printing World, November 20), I would like to add that at Xerox we have already seen many of our customers benefiting from digital technology within the...

Macfarlane sells premises.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Packaging group Macfarlane has sold off its former premises at Linwood, near Glasgow, for #6m as part of its ongoing programme of disposals of surplus property. Macfarlane has made a loss on the disposals it has made so far of #200,000. A...

Printing sales in the US.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Printing sales in the US rose 2.6% in September compared to the year before, according to new research by the National Association of Printing Leadership. In the year to date, print orders are up 0.7% in adjusted terms, and are forecast to rise...

Saga up for sale.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Saga, the over-50s holiday and insurance group and publisher of the magazine of the same name, is up for sale for a reported #1bn plus. As well as its own monthly magazine, the group also owns its own mailing house, Metromail in Peterlee,...

Transcontinental offers C$56m for Optipress.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Canadian publisher and printer Transcontinental has offered C$56m for Optipress, a printer and local newspaper publisher on the Atlantic coast. Transcontinental is Canada's largest printer after Quebecor World, and has launched an $8-a-share...

Lagardere may have to sell assets.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... The French media conglomerate Lagardere may have to sell off half the assets of Editis, formerly Vivendi Universal Publishing, to win European approval of its takeover of the group. Lagardere is already the parent company of Hachette Livre, and...

HP head of operations leaves.(Jeff Clarke steps down)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... One of the main architects of Hewlett Packard's merger with Compaq has stepped down unexpectedly. Jeff Clarke, rumoured to be an HP chief financial officer in waiting, stepped down by mutual agreement last week from his job as head of global...

De La Rue statement justifies cheque exit.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... De La Rue's decision to cease cheque printing in the UK and close a stamp printing plant for the second time in a year (Printing World, last week) is borne out by the group's interim statement which accompanied the news. Overall, De La...

Metronic stake for KBA.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... KBA is buying a majority stake in Metronic, a German manufacturer of inkjet, hot-stamping, laser and thermal transfer ID devices which helped KBA to launch the Genius 52 press for the short-run market two years ago. Metronic, which is...

Leeds big in print.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Leeds is still one of the printing capitals of the UK and has been rated the best British city in which to do business, according to a new survey. London has been knocked into fourth place behind Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle, according...

Xerox expects growth to slow down during 2004.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Xerox expects profits to grow in 2004, but more slowly than it had once been hoping. While the digital print and copier company was generally bullish at a press conference last week, it added that sales will be flat in 2004 and profits...

DMGT consults on bid for Telegraph.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is seeking advice about launching a possible bid for Telegraph Newspapers from City stockbroking firm Merrill Lynch, emboldened by the steady annual results it recorded, which show a rise in profits from...

Appointment of administrators.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... * HW Print Ltd Printers. Administrators: M Dunham, RSM Robson Rhodes LLP, Colwyn Chambers, 19 York Street, Manchester M2 3BA and CWA Escott, RSM Robson Rhodes LLP, St George House, 40 Great George Street, Leeds LS1 3DQ. Copyright: CMP...

Meetings of creditors.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 4, 2003... * Westernprint Ltd at New House, 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JY on November 28 * N2N Publications Ltd at Bridgestones, 125-127 Union Street, Oldham OL1 1TE on December 5 at 11am * Reprotechnology (International) Ltd at Suite 215,...

Final meetings.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 4, 2003... * Montrose Publishing Ltd at Gerald Edelman Business Recovery, Kent House, Station Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PP on January 6 at 10am for members and at 10.15am for creditors * Dencol Publications Ltd at Spectrum House, 20-26 Cursitor...

Scotprint adds Asda to growing roll of honour.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Scotprint in Haddington, Scotland, has printed 45,000 copies of the latest in a series of Asda cookbooks. The Occasions cookbook covers every main household event ranging from Christmas to St Valentine's Day. Six home economists and...

Q&A Red hot tips on using thermal ctp.
December 4, 2003... Brian Filler, managing director of Screen UK, answers the questions most frequently asked by printers considering thermal ctp Why thermal not visible light ctp? Both visible light and thermal energy are used for direct digital imaging...

Getting there: Jim Beecham.(Interview)
December 4, 2003... What has been the best moment of your career? Working with complete professionals at The Midas Press for the last 13 years. Without these guys, life would have been a lot harder. What was the one that got away? None in particular....

Why buy: 46Karat/Ryobi 3304DI.(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 4, 2003... The 46Karat and Ryobi 3304DI are basically the same machine and neither can be faulted in terms of performance, but does either press represent a good investment given the pace of technological change? By Rod Hayes The 46Karat and the...

INVESTIGATION: The going rate.(insolvency)
December 4, 2003... Is the rate of insolvency any worse for printing than other sectors? And what impact might the new Enterprise Act have on the number of companies going bust? By Alex Grant While complaints about the damage that bad debts are doing are...

Printers, builders and truckers.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... While there are no official figures on the number of insolvent companies that go on to phoenix, it is widely known that the printing, construction and road haulage sectors are particularly vulnerable. In all three sectors there are rarely many...

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Twin peaks.(Summerhall Press )
December 4, 2003... When it comes to unique selling points, it is always handy to have more than one. The Summerhall Press in Edinburgh not only boasts a distinctive edge in that it can produce uv work, it also offers the ability to handle Staccato printing ...

Refocus group.
December 4, 2003... Heidelberg's decision to return to its core strength of making and selling sheetfed presses and abandon web printing altogether, marks its most significant restructuring yet By Jim Larkin Farewell, then, dreams of world domination....

At your service.(Roy Jenkinson appointed managing director of Mitsubishi Litho Presses UK)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Roy Jenkinson's reward for building Mitsubishi's market share in sheetfed presses is promotion and a #4.5m investment By Rod Hayes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) of Japan has announced that its technical sales director Roy...

PREPRESS: Charting the flow.
December 4, 2003... The prepress year has been notable for the continuing battle between thermal and violet platesetters, the promise, if slow progress of JDF and the gradual improvements to digital workflows By Gareth Ward The year in prepress has been...

NEWSPAPER TOWERS: The dawning of tower power.
December 4, 2003... A new era of high capacity newspaper printing sites is about to begin, but for those who are happy with their existing site and presses there is another way to achieve more pages and colour By Robin Meade The first of a new generation...

The Kent Messenger add-on project.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... One of the largest add-on projects has been at the Kent Messenger Group near Maidstone. The company wanted to remain at its Larkfield site, but needed to upgrade colour capacity. The building had already been significantly altered for a...

New ink.(Linx Printing Technologies new Linx Black plastic film ink)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Linx Printing Technologies has made an addition to its range of inks for continuous inkjet printing. The new Linx Black plastic film ink 1016 is designed for oriented polypropylene, a material that is becoming increasingly popular for use...

First Grenadier printer.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Palmer Publicity Services, the large format colour specialist in Preston, has taken delivery of the first Grenadier solvent digital printer to be shipped into the north-west of England. Supplied by B&P Light Brigade, the Grenadier joins the...

Electrophotographic revenues.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Worldwide retail revenues from colour electrophotographic hardware, media and chemistry totalled almost $22bn in 2002, according to US research and consultancy specialist IT Strategies. It forecasts that in 2007 worldwide colour...

Woodford Litho set to install Xcalibur ctp.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Woodford Litho in Witham, Essex, will this month install the VLF Agfa Xcalibur ctp system with Grating Light Valve technology with which it plans to generate the plates to feed the KBA Compacta 48pp press that is currently being installed. ...

Xerox racks up century of IGen3 Docucolor deliveries.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Xerox has now delivered its 100th Docucolor IGen3 and is ramping up production in preparation for a major increase in orders next year. It expects to sell between 25 and 50 units this year and between 400 and 500 units in 2004. Half the...

Oce unveils Brentwood head office.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Oce officially opened its new UK headquarters in Brentwood last week with chairman of the UK board of directors Jan Dix officially unveiling a plaque to commemorate the occasion at the site. The Dutch company is now one of the largest...

Fuji debuts Brillia processors.(Fujifilm Graphic Systems )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Fujifilm Graphic Systems has introduced two low cost ctp plate processors for its Brillia LP-NV violet ctp plates. They are called the MR700P and the MR800P and are aimed at the B2 and B3 markets. They both have a small footprint and are...

New bleach plant.(new SCA facility completed)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... SCA has completed construction of a building to house a new bleach plant at its Ortviken mill in Sundsvall, Sweden. The equipment will enable the firm to produce improved newsprint with higher brightness and better printing properties on the...

McNaughton - appointment.(Tony Ralph appointed at James McNaughton Group)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Tony Ralph has joined the Graphic Board division of the James McNaughton Group. He has most recently worked for Stromsdal and Inveresk and previously for over ten years for James McNaughton Paper Merchants. His role will be to develop the sales...

UPM-Kymmene investment.
December 4, 2003... UPM-Kymmene is to strengthen environmental protection at Kaukas mills. The E4m investment plan is scheduled for completion this month and covers sludge treatment and improvement in aeration at the existing effluent treatment plant. It also...

Sodra Cell r and d.(research center planned)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Sodra Cell aims to establish a world-leading research centre on the site of the Sodra Cell Varo pulp mill. The company's existing r&d units at Sodra Cell Morrum and Sodra Cell Tofte will be moved to the new location. All r&d employees will be...

Fellowes at Paperworld.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Fellowes will display its new range of office shredders, laminators and binding machines at Paperworld 2004 in Frankfurt. The company will also show its new line of binding machines and laminators and launch its interactive Ergonomics Seminar....

McNaughton swatch.(carbonless paper solutions )(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... A swathe of carbonless paper solutions from James McNaughton Group is being showcased in a swatch containing full product details and samples. The range features Reacto Carbonless Paper ideal for the commercial trade printer. Copyright:...

Prices continue to go up across the board.(paper)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Price rises for all grades of paper are coming thick and fast. M-real is the latest to start negotiations with its customers to increase prices for graphic papers in reels in Europe following an earlier announcement with regard to the UK. ...

Unicorn helped by Horne.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... When it came to creating a float for the Lord Mayor's Show to conjure up the right mood, the Unicorn Theatre turned to The Robert Horne Group and its versatile synthetic paper Polyart. After working with children from Bigland Green Primary...

Asia Pulp & Paper UK office shuts.(American Home Assurance Co. case)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Asia Pulp & Paper's (APP) UK sales office has been wound up after a creditor, American Home Assurance Company, decided to take the company to court. The closure was forced when American Home Assurance Company, which is part of the American...

UK paper terminal for Stora Enso.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2003... Forth Ports is to provide a #31m (E45m) terminal facility for Stora Enso in the UK in a long term agreement proposing the provision of a new paper terminal facility at the Port of Tilbury. The 15-year contract with Forth Ports will enable...