Among the many topics covered in an in-depth interview for the current issue of PrintWeek, Paperlinx executive director Andrew Price said the goals of the merchant trade bodies, unlike those that directly support Paperlinx customers, didn’t fit with its “better, faster, cheaper” strategy. “I don’t care how many tonnes we sell, I don’t care what our market share is, the only thing I’m interested in is how much profit we make. When I can pay my electricity bill with market share, then I’ll consider it a reasonable statistic,” said Price. “I would be happy for our market share to reduce, if our profits increased. In the past, some of our people and some of our competitors were so concerned with market share that they were giving away profit. That just doesn’t make sense. We need to move away from this obsession with tonnage, we need to focus on adding value.” One of the key services of the NAPM is its paper statistics, which reveal the volume of paper being sold by UK merchants and is used by some as a barometer of the industry’s health. Without the inclusion of Paperlinx’s sales volumes, which account for around 40%-50% of the market, the statistics will have limited value. However, an increasing number of industry watchers question whether other metrics, such as value, present a fairer, more realistic reflection of the industry’s health. In the future, Price said that Paperlinx wants to focus its efforts on supporting bodies and events that support its customers. “Anything that supports our customers, we want to support. We’ll be a strong supporter of the BPIF, we are also very supportive of Fespa,” he said. “I think we’ll probably still support Two Sides, because I think that does add value to the industry, but we will watch them to see what they achieve.” NAPM director Tim Bowler confirmed that the Paperlinx companies Howard Smith, PaperCo and Robert Horne had given notice of their intention to resign at the end of 2013, but said that they would remain members until that time. He added that he was very keen to maintain a dialogue with the Paperlinx companies and was due to meet Price later this month to discuss the merchant’s withdrawal. However, Bowler said he didn’t want to comment specifically on Paperlinx’s withdrawal until after he had met with Price. “The NAPM has been going since 1920 and while Paperlinx are the single largest member, they’re still only one of the members, and the Policy Group is committed to ensuring that the association continues, maybe in some different shape or form,” said Bowler. “The Paperlinx companies have always been the staunchest of supporters of the NAPM up until...

The company launched its Luxe Business Cards in 2012, claiming to be the first digital printer to offer “super-premium” business cards, with just one fixed-size card available. The extended range, targeted predominantly at small businesses, includes Luxe Notecards, Postcards and Minicards. Using Mohawk superfine at 600gsm the whole range can be printed in four colours, with an optional seam of colour running through the centre layer of the card, and personalised down to individual cards. Minicards measure 70x28mm while the postcards and notecards are 148x105mm. Print runs start at 10 pieces with bulk orders available starting from £23.99 for 100 minicards and £19.99 for 10 notecards or postcards. Moo.com director of marketing Paul Lewis said that since the release of Luxe Business Cards last year the division had been a “very fast growing area” of overall business. “Those who are real lovers of branding quality have been crying out for more since we launched Luxe. It was a natural move to launch a suite of consistent branding and extend the paper stock across the new products,” he added. Lewis said that people were beginning to adopt old forms of communication such as invites and thank you cards and that Moo.com was hoping to harnass that with the launch of Luxe Notecards. He added: “The humble thank you note is making a comeback and speaks volumes more than emails so this is about educating small businesses and helping them differentiate themselves over and above the standard printed products that people tend to use. We’re really hoping to fill a gap in the market.”...

“It’s something that we had been looking at for a number of years because we have around 45%-50% of the commercial print market and a lot of our customers have a digital capacity,” said Stehlin UK managing director David Ward. “We’d looked at different manufacturers in the past, but none of them felt quite right, but we were impressed with Bordeaux, it has manufacturing facilities in Israel and the US and also it’s focused on R&D and innovation – so it felt like a good fit.” The non-exclusive partnership was unveiled at Fespa and at the moment it is only for the UK, although Ward said that it could be rolled out to other countries where Stehlin’s parent, HuberGroup, has operations, at some point in the future. Stehlin will distribute Bordeaux’s entire range of solvent, dye-sub, UV and UV LED, and latex inks. The deal also includes Bordeaux’s range of UV and water-based liquid laminates. The companies began talks last year, with the deal being signed off in early June this year. Stehlin is currently running trials with a number of customers, including some “high-volume” users. Ward said that a number of technical staff were going to Israel for high-level training at Bordeaux’s manufacturing site and that the company was looking at further bolstering its 22-strong technical team by recruiting some additional digital specialists. “We’re currently putting together all the service structures we need in place to offer the same level of support that we do with our commercial products,” added Ward. “Our reputation in customer support is second to none and we need to make sure we offer that same level with the digital inks, such as in colour management.” He added that at the moment there were no plans to manufacture digital inks under licence in the UK. Bordeaux inks are also available via UK Euroconnect...

“It’s something that we had been looking at for a number of years because we have around 45%-50% of the commercial print market and a lot of our customers have a digital capacity,” said Stehlin UK managing director David Ward. “We’d looked at different manufacturers in the past, but none of them felt quite right, but we were impressed with Bordeaux, it has manufacturing facilities in Israel and the US and also it’s focused on R&D and innovation – so it felt like a good fit.” The non-exclusive partnership was unveiled at Fespa and at the moment it is only for the UK, although Ward said that it could be rolled out to other countries where Stehlin’s parent, HuberGroup, has operations, at some point in the future. Stehlin will distribute Bordeaux’s entire range of solvent, dye-sub, UV and UV LED, and latex inks. The deal also includes Bordeaux’s range of UV and water-based liquid laminates. The companies began talks last year, with the deal being signed off in early June this year. Stehlin is currently running trials with a number of customers, including some “high-volume” users. Ward said that a number of technical staff were going to Israel for high-level training at Bordeaux’s manufacturing site and that the company was looking at further bolstering its 22-strong technical team by recruiting some additional digital specialists. “We’re currently putting together all the service structures we need in place to offer the same level of support that we do with our commercial products,” added Ward. “Our reputation in customer support is second to none and we need to make sure we offer that same level with the digital inks, such as in colour management.” He added that at the moment there were no plans to manufacture digital inks under licence in the UK. Bordeaux inks are also available via UK Euroconnect...

Blue Tesla became part of Modus on 1 July and was subsequently rebranded Modus Digital. The company’s founder, Ray Gillespie, has joined the Modus board. The new division has already recruited an additional web developer to Modus Digital, and as a result of the merger, Modus will look to build its mobile web and app business. “This acquisition will enable us to focus much more, having your own team of developers is one thing, but having someone to take control and drive it forward is critical,” said Modus Creative director Guy Marson. The 19-staff, £1.2m-turnover company has already won some “robust” contracts to develop some apps for a number of undisclosed universities. “As far as we’re concerned the world is turning digital, but we’re still great believers in ink on paper. Being able to go to clients with a proper digital offering enables us to go to some that we wouldn’t perhaps ordinarily be able to, and that in turn becomes interesting because we can talk about design and print,” said Marson. As part of the growth strategy to double in size, John Keane, previously regional head of agency sales at Clear Channel, joined the company late last year as group sales and marketing director. The company, which is also a Printing.com franchise, is also in the process of moving its print operation to a new site in Worcester city centre, while maintaining its current city centre premises for the design team. The additional site will give the company the physical space to add the capacity to grow the business, said Marson. “It’s also a more accessible site for clients, with parking, so it will help us to reach out to more walk-in business,” he added. “Ultimately, the ambition is to seek two more locations, within a 12- to 15-mile radius, and run this as a digital print hub, because we need to deliver same-day digital.”...