With thousands of sightseers and well-wishers thronging around the palace gates, the Queen is due to attend a reception for Queen’s Award for Enterprise winners this evening. Twelve printing industry companies were among the winners this year. Pureprint won its award for sustainable development. The Uckfield firm’s sales and marketing director Richard Owers will attend the event with finance director Ian Brown. Owers said: “We don’t know whether to walk down the Mall and fight our way through the crowds, or get a taxi. It’s going to be incredibly special, especially on this day of all days.” Inkjet developer Inca Digital won an award for international trade, and the official presentation was carried out at the firm’s Cambridge HQ by the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire last Friday (19 July). Technical author Paul Witcomb-Vos and electro-mechanical technician Clive Hayward were en route to today’s event at the Palace. “We are excited and a bit nervous, but really looking forward to it. It’s a great honour for us, and who could have guessed the timing would work out like this?” said Witcomb-Vos. “It’s going to be fantastic – the arrival of the royal baby gives it an extra level of amazingness!” For a full list of this year’s print-related winners, see earlier story here....

With thousands of sightseers and well-wishers thronging around the palace gates, the Queen is due to attend a reception for Queen’s Award for Enterprise winners this evening. Twelve printing industry companies were among the winners this year. Pureprint won its award for sustainable development. The Uckfield firm’s sales and marketing director Richard Owers will attend the event with finance director Ian Brown. Owers said: “We don’t know whether to walk down the Mall and fight our way through the crowds, or get a taxi. It’s going to be incredibly special, especially on this day of all days.” Inkjet developer Inca Digital won an award for international trade, and the official presentation was carried out at the firm’s Cambridge HQ by the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire last Friday (19 July). Technical author Paul Witcomb-Vos and electro-mechanical technician Clive Hayward were en route to today’s event at the Palace. “We are excited and a bit nervous, but really looking forward to it. It’s a great honour for us, and who could have guessed the timing would work out like this?” said Witcomb-Vos. “It’s going to be fantastic – the arrival of the royal baby gives it an extra level of amazingness!” For a full list of this year’s print-related winners, see earlier story here....

ISO 16759 involved input from various manufacturers and environmental scientists who work in the printing industry. It was developed by the Verdigris Project, a UK-based environmental initiative that carries out work on the environmental impact of print and other media. The new standard encompasses all types of printed product, from labels to newspapers and transactional mail, and has been completed in less than three years. Project director Laurel Brunner said: “We’ve had lots of input from all around the world from people who recognise the importance of this.” She added: “It is written to be as clear and straightforward as possible, making it really easy for people to follow. If you understand how to reduce your carbon impact, you cut your costs.” Brunner said that experts from the Japanese printing industry had been particularly engaged with the process. “The Japanese printing federation, with support from the government, have earmarked a lot of funding for improving the environmental impact of print and improving the industry’s competitiveness through environmental means. “It’s a UK initiative, and I would have loved it if the UK had had more involvement.” Print companies in Germany, Japan, and the US are among early adopters to implement the standard. “It will become more important as print buyers recognise the value of it for their CSR policies,” Brunner added. The standard can be downloaded from the ISO website. It costs CHF146 (£101). The next phase of the Verdigris project involves developing an equivalent calculator for electronic media....

ISO 16759 involved input from various manufacturers and environmental scientists who work in the printing industry. It was developed by the Verdigris Project, a UK-based environmental initiative that carries out work on the environmental impact of print and other media. The new standard encompasses all types of printed product, from labels to newspapers and transactional mail, and has been completed in less than three years. Project director Laurel Brunner said: “We’ve had lots of input from all around the world from people who recognise the importance of this.” She added: “It is written to be as clear and straightforward as possible, making it really easy for people to follow. If you understand how to reduce your carbon impact, you cut your costs.” Brunner said that experts from the Japanese printing industry had been particularly engaged with the process. “The Japanese printing federation, with support from the government, have earmarked a lot of funding for improving the environmental impact of print and improving the industry’s competitiveness through environmental means. “It’s a UK initiative, and I would have loved it if the UK had had more involvement.” Print companies in Germany, Japan, and the US are among early adopters to implement the standard. “It will become more important as print buyers recognise the value of it for their CSR policies,” Brunner added. The standard can be downloaded from the ISO website. It costs CHF146 (£101). The next phase of the Verdigris project involves developing an equivalent calculator for electronic media....

Cinski competed against 15 other finalists from around the world to take the coveted title along with €9,500 (£8,000) worth of prizes. The final was held on 29 June, the last day of Fespa London, the wide-format expo’s 50th show, and attracted a large audience from the show’s 22,000 visitors, around 13,500 of which were overseas attendees. Cinski, along with Dutch team-mate Rob Buursen of 12Wrap, part of Netherlands-based advertising firm Jabe Reclame, also took third place in the Nations Cup wrapping event, in which teams of two battled it out for best team performance. Cinski said: “It was a pleasure and honour to compete arm to arm with the best installers from around the world. I would like to thank the competitors, judges, sponsors and everyone else that was involved in making the event happen.” The Wrap Cup was first introduced at Fespa 2010 in Munich and has proved an increasingly popular feature of the wide-format show. Duncan MacOwan, Fespa’s head of events and new media, said: “The Wrap Cup Masters is always an exciting and fast-paced competition and this year has been no exception. With the addition of the Cup of Nations we’ve watched some of the world’s best vehicle wrapping superstars battle it out providing a crowd magnet.”...