The Luton company won the Bedfordshire region business innovation gong for focusing on staff needs through management, leadership and vocational training, said managing director Toma Habashi. “There is no business without people and we are very lucky to have the team we do,” he said. “We have built up the company on the basis of matching people to the areas that make them tick rather than forcing them down rigid career paths.” Nine-staff Silvertoad prints stationery, leaflets and letterheads on an Oki C9655 digital press, which is a fifth of its output. Much of the rest, which includes magazines, is outsourced to printers such as Pensord and Manson Group. Judges described the five-year-old firm, with a turnover of just under £500,000, as “a forward thinking company who are clearly using innovation as a vehicle for growth and have therefore proven that they are the business to emulate”. Customer services director Amy Waller said: “Around 95% of our work is won on customer recommendation. It’s great to work in an environment with positivity, internally and with our customers. The results are plain to see.” Silvertoad, which is in the heart of a regeneration zone, aims to double staff and turnover in the next 18 months and is using the Government-backed GrowthAccelerator scheme. The service targets companies with high-growth potential and offers coaching, mentoring and part funding for courses, said...

The feel-good factor was spreading across all parts of the UK and most sectors in Q2 this year, the FSB found in its quarterly Small Business Index survey. An FSB spokeswoman said: “Despite recent output contractions in manufacturing, small firms in that sector are more optimistic about their prospects, suggesting that conditions are improving. “The chancellor is due to deliver the spending review later in June and the FSB believes he must use this opportunity to build upon these positive figures with initiatives for growth to keep confidence levels high for both businesses and their customers. “Following another quarter’s results which show four in 10 firms that applied for finance were refused, the FSB wants to see the spending review set a clear plan to improve competition in the banking sector and to help advise small firms on alternative finance providers.” The increase in confidence levels broadly echoed growing optimism in print, according to the BPIF, which also called on the government to step up its focus on stimulating the business sector. Chief executive Kathy Woodward said: “It is pleasing to see a general increase in confidence and anecdotal evidence shows printing companies are experiencing better trading. But there is still a high level of caution particularly as there does not seem any significant improvement in the retail sector. “It is important government continues to focus on stimulating the business sector. The BPIF and other trade associations have written to the chancellor to caution cuts in the coming departmental budgets that will detract from stimulating investment in both skills and technology. “The government must work to ensure that our energy and trade policies place the UK on at least an even playing field with competitors in Europe and the Far East. Initiatives around financing arrangements still have a long way to go.” Other FSB findings included more firms expecting their turnover to rise in the coming three months while more aimed to grow their business in the coming year. Meanwhile more firms expected to increase staffing levels in the next quarter, and more small firms reported rising exports. FSB national chairman John Allan said: “After five consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth, confidence is moving in the right direction. Small firms want to employ more people and grow their business. They want to export and expect turnover levels to increase. “This is all good news but we must not be complacent. The chancellor must use the spending review to build on this optimism. While there are positive signs, inflation and not being able to access finance will affect how quickly, and how much, small firms can grow and create jobs. “We know inflation is likely to remain high for the...

The Luton company won the Bedfordshire region business innovation gong for focusing on staff needs through management, leadership and vocational training, said managing director Toma Habashi. “There is no business without people and we are very lucky to have the team we do,” he said. “We have built up the company on the basis of matching people to the areas that make them tick rather than forcing them down rigid career paths.” Nine-staff Silvertoad prints stationery, leaflets and letterheads on an Oki C9655 digital press, which is a fifth of its output. Much of the rest, which includes magazines, is outsourced to printers such as Pensord and Manson Group. Judges described the five-year-old firm, with a turnover of just under £500,000, as “a forward thinking company who are clearly using innovation as a vehicle for growth and have therefore proven that they are the business to emulate”. Customer services director Amy Waller said: “Around 95% of our work is won on customer recommendation. It’s great to work in an environment with positivity, internally and with our customers. The results are plain to see.” Silvertoad, which is in the heart of a regeneration zone, aims to double staff and turnover in the next 18 months and is using the Government-backed GrowthAccelerator scheme. The service targets companies with high-growth potential and offers coaching, mentoring and part funding for courses, said...

The second-hand six-unit press with Vits high-speed sheeter cost £1.7m and can output up to 70,000 sheets an hour. The Website’s unit uses Kodak Electra XD plates and features remoist gum facility, pattern-perforating unit and GMI closed-loop colour control. Managing director Graham Glynn said his company planned to fit the press with plough-folding units to enable a wide range of folded products to be finished inline. He added: “The 16pp press replaces a 32pp Manroland Polyman, so it will increase efficiency and reduce waste but not increase overall capacity – there is still overcapacity in the industry. “The Manroland was starting to show its age. We wanted something with less waste, better quality, faster speeds and quicker makeready: on the new machine it is 30 minutes, half the time it took on the old press. “We wanted to focus on quality and the Goss is the closest a web press can get to sheet-fed quality,” he said. The investment follows a big spend in 2012 that included a 12-colour Heidelberg SM102 with cutstar and Corona C12 perfect binding line. The Website (Leeds) offers high-volume web offset and cut-sheet print for travel, charity and mail-order sectors. Glynn said his company was one of the largest independent commercial printers in the UK, with a £12m turnover, 120 staff and strong environmental credentials – under 2% of its waste goes to landfill. “We believe that our mix of presses reinforces our reputation as one of the most versatile, flexible and highest quality commercial printers in the country,” he said. Glynn added that The Website had recently launched a direct-mail division to offer data processing, response handling, high-speed laser personalisation, poly wrapping and envelope enclosing....

The second-hand six-unit press with Vits high-speed sheeter cost £1.7m and can output up to 70,000 sheets an hour. The Website’s unit uses Kodak Electra XD plates and features remoist gum facility, pattern-perforating unit and GMI closed-loop colour control. Managing director Graham Glynn said his company planned to fit the press with plough-folding units to enable a wide range of folded products to be finished inline. He added: “The 16pp press replaces a 32pp Manroland Polyman, so it will increase efficiency and reduce waste but not increase overall capacity – there is still overcapacity in the industry. “The Manroland was starting to show its age. We wanted something with less waste, better quality, faster speeds and quicker makeready: on the new machine it is 30 minutes, half the time it took on the old press. “We wanted to focus on quality and the Goss is the closest a web press can get to sheet-fed quality,” he said. The investment follows a big spend in 2012 that included a 12-colour Heidelberg SM102 with cutstar and Corona C12 perfect binding line. The Website (Leeds) offers high-volume web offset and cut-sheet print for travel, charity and mail-order sectors. Glynn said his company was one of the largest independent commercial printers in the UK, with a £12m turnover, 120 staff and strong environmental credentials – under 2% of its waste goes to landfill. “We believe that our mix of presses reinforces our reputation as one of the most versatile, flexible and highest quality commercial printers in the country,” he said. Glynn added that The Website had recently launched a direct-mail division to offer data processing, response handling, high-speed laser personalisation, poly wrapping and envelope enclosing....