SME Finance Monitor by market researcher BDRC Continental found although nearly three quarters struck lucky in their overdraft applications in the last quarter of 2012, almost all of the rest failed, with a few companies securing funding elsewhere. “Nine out of 10 successful applicants felt loan or overdraft facilities were put in place by the bank in good time for when it was needed,” said the authors. “Seven out of 10 successful overdraft applicants had a facility in place within a week. Loans took slightly longer with two thirds in place within two weeks of being agreed.” Other findings included just over two fifths of SMEs reported using any external finance in the last quarter of 2012. This was virtually unchanged from the third quarter and from a year ago. Larger SMEs remained more likely to be using external finance than smaller ones, but the proportion is declining. The proportion making a profit was stable, but smaller profits were reported. There was a slight increase in the proportion of SMEs with a worse than average external risk rating. A fifth of all SMEs interviewed in the fourth quarter thought initiatives such as Funding for Lending or the National Loan Guarantee Scheme made it more likely they would apply for funding, the equivalent of around 900,000 SMEs. The Forum of Private Business said the data suggested “confidence was low amid access to credit and cash flow problems”. But reworking the Funding for Lending scheme could change that sentiment, the forum added. Head of policy Alex Jackman said: “Unsurprisingly the report on business lending shows a mixed picture across the UK. The one common theme is low confidence, affecting every region with around one in three firms citing it as a major barrier. “The research suggests confidence is highest among business owners in England, where fewer numbers of businesses cite cash flow or late payment as a perceived problem (11%), and also access to external finance (10%).” The findings supported the forum’s long-held view that bank lending and late payment remained huge issues for small firms. But Jackman hoped the chancellor’s recent “fine tuning” of the Funding for Lending scheme could help improve lending. “If businesses feel they will be able to follow a growth plan without being hampered by issues around access to finance there’s every chance confidence will grow, and there is some evidence of this effect in the data.” The SME Finance Monitor surveys 5,000 businesses every quarter about past borrowing events and future borrowing intentions. It is the largest such survey of its kind in the UK and BDRC Continental held over 20,000 interviews for this report....

The machine, launched at Drupa 2012 and installed at the book printer’s Croydon facility last month, applies varnish digitally using inkjet with varying levels. The varnish can be adjusted in depth across the sheet creating a 3D embossed effect, and opens up opportunities in packaging and POS, book jacket printing, promotional print and brochures. Additionally as part of the investment the book printer is to invest in a new high speed B1 litho press at its Croydon site to add to its existing suite. Further details of the new press, which is to be commissioned later this year, were not confirmed although CPI is currently an all-Heidelberg house. Announcing the plans last night CPI UK group sales director Alison Kaye said: “We are combining the expertise of our people with the very latest press technology so we can keep pushing the boundaries, so we can stay at the forefront of lithographic printing.” Kaye stressed that although print remained at the core of the business, the company’s “overarching strategy” was to support clients through the entire supply chain from content creation to consumer delivery. As such, as part of the £20m plan, the company intends to develop its existing digital media capability such as content-rich app delivery and its management information system, CPI Highway, with digital asset management functionality. Kaye added: “Investing in our growing IT resource is vital so that we can engage electronically with our clients via EDI and XML workflows to drive efficiencies, improve workflow and help reduce administrative costs.” The latest investment strategy follows the completion last year of a £22m, three-year spending strategy in its UK businesses that included the installation of its first UK-based HP T350 “Quantum” colour inkjet webpress for short run colour books and catalogues. The company also installed two HP Indigos in Croydon along with a raft of digital finishing equipment, following the relocation of its Bookmarque paperback manufacturing operation to Mackays in Chatham, Kent. The latest round of spending comes on the back of the year-long restructuring and consolidation of CPI UK’s commercial printing operation in Croydon. It saw the consolidation of four separate operating businesses – Fulmar Colour, Royle Print, Quadracolour and Pegasus – into one and rebranded as CPI Colour. The business now employs 130 of the 900-strong workforce that make up CPI...

The two 44- and 64-inch printers, which are due to make their second UK outing at Fespa after being unveiled at last week’s at Sign & Digital UK, can produce up to 57sqm per hour. They both use Epson’s first dye-sub ink Ultrachrome DS, and are designed for soft signage, sportswear, apparel, accessories, promotional products and decorated gadgets applications. Nick White, business manager, professional graphics at Epson UK, explained that working with suppliers with established expertise in this field would be key to the success of Epson’s first foray into this new market. “We wanted to work with resellers that were very experienced in the dye sublimation textile marketplace,” he said. “They both have a very good reputation and they can offer good pre sales consultancy and after sales service and can provide ancillary equipment for textile printing.”...

The updates focus on making its production and digital asset management systems and its brand management platform more accessible for users and simplifying the transfer and sharing of assets being produced by different users. Xinet is North Plains’ production asset management system, heavily used by creative production teams and agencies and integrated with Adobe Creative Suite. New features for the system include the Xinet Pilot desktop application that allows users to drag and drop digital assets into it without having to be in Adobe giving users more flexibility to synchronise asset production. Using North Plains’ ConnectR technology, launched in December to smooth the transfer of assets between North Plains’ products, Xinet can now push assets to the firm’s recently launched On Brand and Xinet Digital brand management products. Previously it was only possible to push assets to North Plains’ enterprise-scale DAM system, Telescope, but the upgrade has also enabled metadata and assets to be “pulled” back from Telescope into Xinet creating a bi-directional workflow for asset transfers. Product line manager Bob Bennett said: “This really cements the role of Telescope as a central repository. This is big news for users of our products who want to really get that combined power of Xinet and Telescope, as well as those people who want to feed an On Brand system directly from Xinet.” “This interoperability really ties creative teams closer to other parts of the business that are using their creative work.” Other new features include the introduction of Unicode support meaning that Xinet can now encode multiple languages within any one metadata field rather than one language per field. MP3 audio thumbnails have also been added to improve browsing, while the system can also now be licensed without a hardware dongle on Windows and Linux. As well as the enhancement to ConnectR technology within Telescope, upgrades in the DAM system include an auto-complete function in many of its data entry fields that filter out non-matching items as the user types speeding up data entry. Upgrades in On Brand, the brand management platform and marketing management resource, include enhanced user permission to give more control over what assets can be viewed, downloaded and shared, and by whom. Additionally On Brand can now be used to brand portals in multiple languages, making the system more globally accessible. All three updates versions will be ready for shipping by the end of the quarter....

The Reading-based consumables company will unveil Finito Dress designed to protect presses from stains and TruPoint Quick Wash, which the company claims cuts down on washing times. Finito Dress, a self-adhesive film applied to the outside of printing presses, protects from ink and glue stains to keep the kit looking clean, according to the BFS. The thermoplastic film also protects from scratching and chemical damage, said head of sales Lewis Prince. Meanwhile the company claims that TruPoint Quick Wash can cut wash-up times and solvent consumption by up to 50%. A custom-made aluminium clamp fits to the wash-up tray allowing a TruPoint DeltaFlex wash-up blade, which has a contact area for a more effective wash-up, to be fixed into position. Two other recently unveiled products, Infinity Plus and Pre-impregnated Washcloths, will also be on show. Prince said Infinity Plus, which had been supplied by the company for a few months, was the newest addition to the Rollin range of sheetfed blankets for commercial printing and packaging, with “good smash resistance for a variety of substrates”. Pre–impregnated Washcloths cleaned printing blankets and cylinders without the need for further chemicals, he said. “The washcloths are suitable for sheet-fed, heat-set and cold-set presses using either conventional or UV inks. They come individually wrapped and sealed to prevent drying out before use.” Family firm BFS Pressroom Solutions said it made and distributed consumables that aimed to last longer and save printers’ money through improved productivity. It runs three factories, in Haverhill, Suffolk, Leighton Buzzard and Reading, Berkshire....