Printing World articles from October 2001

Printing World archives from October 2001

The Box Room breaks free.(from Fulmar Group)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Tamworth packaging prepress operation The Box Room is preparing for life as an independent company having agreed a buy out from Fulmar Group. Neil Cleghorn, who as managing director will lead the mbo, says: "At the end of the day we didn't...

Feelers out for Finchmark.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Finchmark's receivers are talking to a number of possible buyers for the company, having set a deadline of last Friday (September 28) for any bids. Kroll Buchler Phillips says there has been "substantial interest" in both divisions,...

Express interest in Sunday Business.(Express Newspapers PLC)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Richard Desmond, the Daily Express publisher is considering making a bid for the Sunday Business, according to press reports. Express Newspapers could not be reached for comment, but Mr Desmond is known to be keen to make more acquisitions,...

Edale boost.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Flexo pressmaker Edale reports that it is seeing strong sales of Alpha and B-Range presses - `the result of an overall policy of supplying the industry with presses it really wants rather than attempting to foist over-complicated technology...

Bezier splits.(Bezier Corporate Print)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Bezier Corporate Print has invested a `six-figure' sum in its Beyond Print project as it opens a new mailing and fulfilment house this month. The company will now be split into three areas: consultancy, production, and fulfilment. ...

DMGT warning.(Daily Mail and General Trust PLC)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Daily Mail & General Trust joined the chorus of dissent last week after warning about the slowdown in advertising and the effects of events in the US. Although shares went up 10%, by 55p to 558p, the company says any increase in circulation in...

Agfa acquires Autologic as it abandons analogue.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Agfa has announced a E550m cost cutting measure as it moves its production from analogue to digital. To help this transfer it is buying Autologic, the US imaging specialist for #42.4m While the cutbacks, equivalent to 4,000 jobs, will...

What the deal means.(Agfa Corp., AutoLogic L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Barry Leatherland, managing director of Mortons Print in Horncastle says it is too early to make any comment on how the deal would affect the customers. "We hope that everything will continue as normal as we are customers of both Autologic...

Duco director facing allegations.(Duco International Ltd.'s Mike Taylor dismissed)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Duco International's ex-sales director Mike Taylor was dismissed for alleged serious financial irregularities according to the company. These had occurred over a long period of time, it says. Mr Taylor, 57, had been at the blanket supplier...

Reborn in Daventry.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Print Connection in Daventry has been reborn as West Valley Press after being liquidated last week. Proprietor Geoff Fone, who also ran Print Connection, led the buyout but was unavailable for comment last week. Copyright: CMP Information...

Close encounter.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The printing industry is showing signs of recovery for Close Brothers, the merchant bank which reported figures last week. Close Asset Finance reports to the Close banking division where the loan book has increased 33% and which contributes 39%...

Brussels debuts.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Both Indigo and Xeikon unveiled new label printing systems at LabelExpo in Brussels last week. Xeikon launched the LabelSprint system, featuring the DCP 320S print unit and a new finishing machine based on the Ucoat, unveiled earlier this year....

Leeds goes online.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Leeds College of Technology has developed an online project to boost print training, funded by the Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire & Humberside. Recently awarded Centre of Vocational Excellence status, the college's Print Media...

Quebecor grabs gravure plants.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Quebecor World has bought the French and Belgian gravure printing operations of French publisher Hachette Filipacchi in a deal valued at $400m. The deal includes Belgian company Helio Charleroi, which will continue to be 50% owned by...

Centre stage at Seybold.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... While numbers were down at Seybold in San Francisco and 12 of the 300 exhibitors decided against travelling to California, those that did turn up were treated to contrasting views of the future from Adobe and Quark. Both were talking about...

Brothers part at Duplo.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Robin Greenhalgh today (October 1) becomes group managing director of Duplo International following the departure of his elder brother Philip, who is leaving after 27 years with the company to pursue a career in property development. As...

Press rescue.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... A turn of the century Golding & Co Pearl Platen press has been rescued from the scrap heap by Picon chief executive John Brazier and Rod Hayes, editor of British Printer. The press used to belong to United Business Media at Printing World's...

ECRM votes for euros.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... ECRM Imaging Systems has changed its European pricing strategy for imagesetter sales. All imagesetters will now be priced in euros instead of dollars to offset fluctuation between the two currencies and provide more competitive pricing. ...

Partnering Adobe.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Wam!Net has partnered with Adobe so users of Adobe Studio can sign up for the former's secure, fully managed network and file transport services. The new alliance adds to those already announced with PrintCafe, Zuma Interactive and Corbis....

Fonts find favour.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Linotype Library has won a High Court battle to have its copyright confirmed over a distributor of typefaces to consumers. GreenStreet Technologies, a Cambridge company had been touting CDs with titles such as 100 Fonts TrueType, 500...

Aero-Print flies after rescue bid.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Despite the crisis of confidence in airlines, ticket printer Aero-Print in Aylesbury has been unexpectedly saved three months after receivers arrived and all 100 staff were laid off. All hope for Aero-Print seemed lost since a sales bid by...

Virgin's Hot Air sinks.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The airline downturn has claimed its first magazine victim. Hot Air, the inflight magazine of Virgin Atlantic and other Virgin Airlines, is being scrapped from January as part of a round of cost cuts. The 100 page, quarterly magazine has a...

Quantum leap.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Polestar has won a #1.5m a year sole supplier contract with Quantum Business Media, for a minimum of two years. Five weekly and nine monthly magazines will be printed at Polestar's Colchester factory and at Specialist Colour in Dunstable. ...

Lease expiry hits CPC.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... CPC Packaging UK, part of the Paris-headquartered Groupe CPC, is to close its Reading carton operation and transfer production to the group's Bristol and King's Lynn sites with up to 130 jobs affected. The lease on the CPC Reading site is...

Tagsa's new owner.(Adhesive Specialities )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Newbury self-adhesive products manufacturer Tagsa has been bought by Adhesive Specialities of London SE13. Roy Goddard, managing director of Adhesive Specialities says: `The combination of the two companies will provide substantial benefits for...

Anton invests.(Heidelberg SM 102 )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The Anton Group is investing in a ten-colour Heidelberg SM 102 perfecting press for its headquarters in Brentwood. The firm moved to a 60,000 sq ft purpose-built premises last year and already has one ten- colour Heidelberg press. Anton Group...

Newsprint curtailed.(North America)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... North American paper companies are still facing a tough time as the newspaper advertising downturn continues. Bowater says its third quarter newsprint production curtailments will total 120,000 tonnes. NorskeCanada is also to curtail production...

Eastern Counties goes for Goss in upgrade.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The Eastern Counties Newspaper Group has invested #1.5m in the latest Goss press upgrade to double its full colour capability. The installation will take place over the next year at the company's Ipswich offices and be ready for September...

NUR `no' to rumour.(NUR Macroprinters)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... NUR Macroprinters has yet again denied press reports it is poised to snap up Scitex Vision in a deal to combine the two competing large format inkjet manufacturers. Local press reports had the two Israeli companies locked in the final...

GES wastes no time with merger.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Aside from an ongoing investigation by the Environment Agency about whether or not it has been operating illegally (Printing World, September 10), chemical waste collector Global Envirotec Services has finalised a merger with the Stephen Betts...

Maiden billings posted up.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... UK outdoor advertising contractor Maiden Group has reported a small rise in first-half profits but says that advertising conditions were tough. For the period ended June 30, Maiden saw a 2% rise in first-half pretax profits to #5.3m. Sales...

Spallart in charge.(Michael Spallart)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Michael Spallart has become director for marketing and sales of graphic papers at Sappi Fine Paper Europe following the departure of Bernhard Fuchsberger. Mr Fuchsberger joined Sappi in 1992 where he was executive director for sales at Hannover...

Positive action.(Positive Focus dealer for Barco and ColorBlind)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Positive Focus, Somerset, has been authorised as a Barco and ColorBlind dealer by Birmingham colour management specialist TypeMaker. The latter company is the exclusive distributor of Barco monitors in the UK and Ireland and is the European...

Eagles land.(Digital Eagle 44 presses)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Two more Inca Digital Eagle 44 presses have been installed since the first went in at Concorde Graphics in south London in April. The piezo inkjet press, with Xaar printheads, was developed by Inca Digital, a printer in Cambridge, and is...

Bloomsbury is booming in 2001.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... The Harry Potter phenomenon has rolled into town again for Bloomsbury Publishing after the company announced a 100% turnover increase for the first half of the year. Sales increased to #22.72m in the six months to June 30, 2001, compared...

Emap turns up the Heat.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Shares in publishing giant Emap rose even though the company admitted it was going through the most difficult advertising market in a decade. The underlying news was positive with advertising revenues from consumer magazines up 5% in the...

CPI reports colour push.(Chevrillon Philippe Industries)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... CPI UK describes the book market as going through a tough year demanding a relentless attention to reducing costs. At a time when other UK book printers are exiting the colour book printing market, such as Omnia, CPI reports a big growth in...

Clinton Cards shrugs off losses.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Musical and talking cards are the most popular items on Clinton Cards' shelves, with sales enabling the company to press ahead with expansion plans this year. Despite fears of an economic slowdown and a recent slide in sales growth, it...

Bishops' move.(Bishops Printers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Portsmouth commercial sheetfed printer Bishops Printers has upgraded its Optichrome management information system from a 16-user Classic to a 24-user Optimus 2020. Running on a Sun E250 server, the company hopes the installation will help it...

Tempus takeover.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The Tempus Group says shareholders should accept a #435m takeover bid from rival WPP. Tempus has posted a fall in half-year profits due to the slump in the advertising market. The group aims to save #10m a year, the majority of which will be...

JP outlines vision.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Jarvis Porter Labels in Leeds outlined its vision for the future at an open day held in September. Sales and marketing director Peter Brady said investment plans included upgrades of presses in Leeds and Paris, a programme for the adoption of...

Stratus fails to find funding.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Stratus Holdings, the publisher and printer of digital books, has appointed BDO Stoy Hayward as its administrator after failing to find new sources of funding. Stratus had been floated on the Alternative Investment Market but had its...

Bousfield loses jobs for recovery.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Inks and prepress equipment supplier Bousfield claims that by cutting around 40 jobs from its 180-strong workforce, it will be well on the way to recovery. Head of marketing Richard Edwards says: "We hope this will be all the redundancies...

Nilpeter in Indigo Oem deal.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Danish label press manufacturer Nilpeter has signed an Oem agreement with Indigo. Nilpeter had previously reached an Oem deal with Xeikon, selling the adapted digital press as the DL-3300. The Danish company will supply its range of inline...

XPS scores in Brighton.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Brighton amateur football team AFC St George's has a new strip thanks to the captain Jason Vivian's employer, print specialist XPS. Graham Nicholas, XPS md, says: `Although I'm more of a rugby man, I was happy to put the XPS name behind this...

Hey presto to digital.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Taking a trip through the pages of Printing World this week and the future is blindingly obvious. We are going digital. Despite Agfa's Laurence Roberts telling us only a few short months ago that sales of film was still going strong, it...

Letter.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... I see by Ann Kritzinger's letter last week that my article, A sticking point, (Printing World, August 20) failed to make it clear that I was talking about high quality long runs of catalogues and guides produced at speeds of 10,000-15,000 an...

Letter: A failure to support.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... At a time when the industry has at long last begun to consult and work together to present a united front to the Government and the outside world, we are all extremely disappointed with the unsupportive and negative tone of your leader,...

Johnston rebuffed.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Johnston Press has been blocked from acquiring eight free weekly newspapers in the East Midlands from Trinity Mirror. Competition minister Melanie Johnson has ruled that by acquiring the papers, including the Derby Trader and Herald & Post...

US buy in Norway.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Telenor, the main telecoms operator in Norway, has sold its "non-core" phone directories and Internet portals arm Telenor Media to an American private equity group, Texas Pacific Group. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

T&F sees boost.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Taylor & Francis, the academic publisher, has increased its first half profits from #3.6m to #4m since a wave of acquisitions and e-book investment. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Gannett worries.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Gannett, the US's largest newspaper publisher, has warned that its third quarter profits could be 15% or 20% below last year, despite extra newspaper sales in the wake of the US terror attacks. This has been outweighed by the impact on revenues...

Help is at hand.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Companies that would normally go bust could be given a second chance, if a new pilot scheme proves successful. The Government's Small Business Service, part of the DTI, is sending "company doctors" into small firms with financial...

Fulmar reports `tough' first half.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Fulmar's performance in the first half year is as well as could be expected given the tough economic conditions. Chief executive Mike Taylor says: "Life's tough and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future." Turnover for the...

Adobe's brave face.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Adobe is putting a brave face on Q3 figures which show more than 10% fall in revenues from the equivalent quarter last year. President and chief executive Bruce Chizen says that the plus points include greater control over expenses and...

Shares fall in economic turmoil.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The US terror attacks and the ensuing economic turmoil has had a sustained effect on printing stocks, whose prices have slumped by up to 20%. Communisis's share price was down from 157p on September 11 to 125p last week, while St Ives has...

Heidelberg profits warning.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Heidelberg chairman Bernhard Schreier has warned that the US terror attacks will lead to a fall in orders this winter, and could mean that profits will decline below last year's record levels. Heidelberg profits in the year to March 31 rose...

Pensions deadline nears.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Printers could face fines of up to #50,000 apiece if they fail to set up a stakeholder pension for their employees in the next fortnight, the BPIF is warning. A new law requires all companies with five or more staff to offer pension...

Compulsory winding up.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The following case is due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL * Parkstone Press Ltd 1 Higher Golla, Penhallow, Truro TR4 9LZ on October 3 at 10.30am. Petition by Craft Print International Ltd Copyright:...

Appointment of liquidators.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * Vision Imaging Ltd Graphic designer. Liquidators: DL Cockshott and RH Barker, Baker Tilly, Carlton House, Grammar School Street, Bradford BD1 4NS * BBL Distribution Services Ltd Previous company name: Bhaktivedanta Books Ltd Paper,...

Appointment of receivers.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * Kent Paper Co Ltd Printing and paper supplies. Receivers: A Tate and B Mackay, Baker Tilly, Lancaster House, 7 Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 1LT Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Meetings of creditors.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * The Print Connection Ltd at Brindley Twist Tafft & James, Lowick Gate, Siskin Drive, Coventry CV3 4FJ on September 24 at 2.30pm * Greenups Packaging Ltd at Sheffield United Conference & Banqueting, Bramall Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire...

Final meetings.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * International Printing Machines Ltd at HKM Harlow Khandhia Mistry, The Old Mill, 9 Soar Lane, Leicester LE3 5DE on October 30 at 10am for members and at 10.30am for creditors * WH Shaw (Printers) Ltd at The Red Lion Hotel, Todwick,...

Remote proofing.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... DuPont claims its new fifth generation colour management system ensures optimised colour content integrity and proof output from any site. This means that proofs generated from any Cromalin Digital system are reproduced accurately, no matter...

Generation game.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The Fastlane Next Generation automated workflow solution from Barco Graphics has a new function. Normalise Only When Necessary (Nown) claims to offer more flexibility and requires less storage capacity than other workflow solutions. Nown only...

MIS via CD.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... New from Starlite Software is a management information system which the company believes is the most advanced entry level MIS for the print industry. Compatible with Microsoft Office products, the complete program is supplied on CD with full...

Ordering online.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... CCS Potts, the print management subsidiary of Thomas Potts, has invested in a Blinnk e-commerce system to enable its customers to buy preprinted and standard desktop stationery online. Users will have a password to access the electronic...

KIP on fire duty.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... When fire engine maker Dennis decided to replace its ten-year-old copier, it opted to join the digital age. The Guildford company bought a KIP 2720E medium volume production scanner/plotter system from City & West End Solutions. Dave...

Mail Solutions' Indigo insurance.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Mail Solutions in Telford has installed two fully specified Indigo TurboStream digital offset colour presses specifically for variable data printing. The two presses will be dedicated to the printing of insurance policy certificates,...

Apogee Pilot takes off at M&S.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... M&S Mailing & Support in Crawley has invested in Agfa's Apogee Pilot workflow, Phoenix 2250 B1 imagesetters with Silversave 12 and a Sherpa 24 digital colour proofer. Managing director Martin Parrish says: "We offer the full range of...

Prism for Pega Print.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Rotherham commercial and financial printer Pega Print has installed a five-user version of Prism's Enterprise MIS software. Steve Niemas, managing director, says of the installation: "Prism Enterprise helped us to tie our whole business...

Donside date.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Colebrook Evans, specialist printing auctioneer, is currently trying to sell off equipment from the Donside Paper mill in Aberdeen which closed in August. A viewing of the two paper machines and other equipment will be held at the mill at the...

M-real deal.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... M-real is making plans to found a new company for the management of its forests. The company will take over 112,500 hectares owned by M-real and additional Metsaliitto land. The new company will be founded before the end of the year and it will...

Helping hands.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Aylesford Newsprint's donations to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital have reached #100,000. For every tonne of used newspapers and magazines in its Great Ormond Street recycling banks, the company makes a contribution to the hospital. The...

Sappi's winner.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The prize for Sappi International Printer of the year was awarded to WE Andrews of North America at a glittering event in Hong Kong last month. From 6,000 entries, WE Andrews scooped the award for its New England's Finest 2001 calendar printed...

KPMF sparkles.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Kay Premium Marking Films has launched a range of pastel coloured transparent films with a sparkly finish for window graphics and posters. Small metallic flakes are dispersed in liquid vinyl prior to casting to give a glittery effect to its...

Jobs threatened at Saint-Priest.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... International Paper's French subsidiary, International Paper Emballages Liquides, is to cease paper packaging production on its Saint-Priest site, closing at the end of the year. There will be a potential impact on 130 jobs. The site was...

Stationery is stationary.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... UK stationery manufacturers are seeing increasingly troubled times according to a new Business Ratio report published by The Prospect Shop. The report, entitled Stationery Manufacturers, says: "Over the last three years, leading stationery...

American Tissue files for protection.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... American Tissue and its domestic subsidiaries have filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The company made the filings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It has net debts of more than $330m....

Photo-realism from Kodak Professional.(company introduces inkjet paper)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Kodak Professional has launched a range of micro-porous inkjet paper designed to produce instant drying results. Drawing on its years of expertise in photographic paper, Kodak says the Instant Dry range produces near photo-realistic...

African accolade.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... South Africa now leads the world in design, according to the judges of Curtis Fine Papers' International Design Competition 2000, who named Original Writing of Saxonwold, located in the centre of the country, overall winner. The company...

No trouble at mill.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The GBM Group, Manchester, has been given the task of scanning the most famous work in Salford's Lowry Centre, entitled Coming Home from the Mill. This will allow art conservator Eddie Bowles to create a totally accurate reconstruction of the...

Building blocks.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Art Systems, Nottingham, has announced the introduction of ArchCad 7.0, the latest version of the architectural Cad program from Graphisoft. The system can output all the required views of a project in one step to either disk, a printer or the...

Global system.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Freedman International, a marketing communications consultancy, has launched its OnlineOrdering system to allow global customers access to their agents and distributors to order multi-lingual marketing materials 24 hours a day. Copyright:...