The cutter has been purchased to help the company meet demand for smaller-format digital work and comes just a month after Heidelberg installed a new Stahlfolder TH 82 at the company’s site in Liverpool. The £4.5m-turnover commercial print firm is expanding the digital side of the business, which also produces wide-format work, by upgrading its digital finishing kit and building web-to-print capability into its website. “We bought a Xerox iGen5, which takes a larger sheet and is faster than our previous machine, so the new finishing kit is intended to handle the increased throughput of digital work,” said managing director Peter Scott. “We have a big litho set-up, but we’re doing more and more digital work and what we’ve found is that litho and digital don’t really mix; you have to run the two operations almost as two different companies.” The Polar 78 will replace a Perfecta 115 and will be used to help finish the company’s range of commercial print products, including brochures, leaflets, catalogues, mailers, stationery and...

In an interim management statement (IMS) published this morning, the inkjet printhead manufacturer said that – based on unseasonably stong trading in the first quarter and the strength of its forecast for the rest of 2013 – it was increasing its expectations for the year. Sales in the first three months of 2013 were said to have “grown significantly” year-on-year as well as versus the last quarter of 2012. This was said to be in contrast with historic seasonal sales patterns, as the first quarter is usually adversely affected by the Chinese New Year. The Cambridge-based manufacturer said that product gross margins had improved as a result of the higher sales level and were ahead of those achieved in the second half of 2012. Revenue growth came primarily from the industrial and packaging markets, supported by “modest growth” in the graphic arts market. Operating margins also benefited from the growth in sales although the board warned that these were expected to soften later in the year due to the impact of planned manufacturing capacity investment and increased R&D spend. Net cash at 31 March 2013 was £41.7m, versus £28.9m at 31 December 2012, although this was partly due to the phasing of this year’s capex towards the second half of the year and a reduction in net working capital. The IMS concluded that the board was “confident that strong growth in revenue and profit will be achieved in 2013 versus 2012” – when the company achieved record results – adding that it was increasing its expectations for the year....

“They are cutting into the bone and then trying to grow the business again and reestablish it,” one source said in reference to the restructuring. Presstek Press Business General Manager Geoff Loftus declined to give details of the restructuring but confirmed that new CEO David Savage had spent the past few days travelling between the direct imaging press manufacturer’s sites to explain the impact to staff. “He was with our South Hadley ( MA), Greenwich (CT) and Hudson, New Hampshire employees already this week and is now meeting face to face with our team in the UK,” Loftus added. Presstek officials have publicly been touting the benefits of the AIP acquisition since it was announced last August, stressing that it put the one-time publicly traded company on much firmer financial footing. AIP, which also owns mid-web flexo press maker Mark Andy, reportedly paid about $26m for Presstek, which lost $73m between 2009 and 2011 alone. Executives have also recently been suggesting that the Presstek 75DI – a 31″ direct imaging press available in four to 10-color configuration that can print up to 6,000sph and includes support for 300lpi and FM screening – has been making solid inroads in the packaging/folding carton market for shorter run jobs....

The move follows what the Scottish firm’s managing director Stuart Mason described as “six months of difficult trading”, following the company’s bid to achieve a five-fold increase in profitability by focusing on high-margin work. Anne Buchanan and James Stephen of BDO Stoy Hayward’s Glasgow office were appointed joint receivers on Thursday 4 April, with the £2.5m turnover business’s 15 staff laid off upon their appointment. BDO is understood not to be looking to sell the business and is simply concentrating on realising the value of its assets. In a statement, Mason said: “I fully accept that this happened on my watch. There have been a number of reasons why the business has suffered in recent months but again I accept this was my responsibility. “The issues we had mainly related to margin and getting the right mix of margin and turnover, poor and underperforming equipment, franchising the business, and a general decline in print.” Almost exactly a year ago, Mason revealed that he was planning to cut around £750,000 of the then £3m firm’s “unprofitable revenue” to boost its profitability five-fold. The ambitious strategy followed a 12-month, £1.2m investment package that included a four-colour-plus-coater Komori LS29, a Xerox Color 1000 digital press, an Agfa Avalon platesetter and a substantial investment in wide-format kit, including an Agfa Anapurna M1600. According to Mason, the restructuring plans were working, but “just not quickly enough”. Mason praised the support he had received from suppliers and even the firm’s bank, understood to be Clydesdale Bank. However, he said he was “devastated” by the impact the firm’s closure would have on Ink Shop’s workforce. “My staff have all been long serving, hard working and a dedicated part of the team. I am devastated that they now find themselves in this position,” Mason said. At its peak, Ink Shop, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, had sales of £3m and, as well as its Cumbernauld production hub, it had eight retail storefront operations across Scotland. In 2006 Mason unveiled a plan to create a 200-strong franchise network across the UK, although this was later shelved....

Between 10am and 4pm visitors will have the chance to view a number of existing Edale presses in operation as well as a preview of the manufacturer’s FL-5 760mm mid-web packaging machine, set to be launched in 2014, and a tour of the site. Demonstrations on the Alpha label and ticketing press, the next generation FL-3 label and flexible packaging press – which it launched in January – with new features such as an optional rail system and increased web widths, will take place throughout the day. Additionally visitors will see a Gamma printing and converting press, which can be run inline with the Edale FDC-510 flatbed die cutter, and a number of Beta and FL-3 models currently in production for international customers. Meanwhile Edale customer Douglas Storrie Labels, which co-developed the FL-3 press with the manufacturer, has been awarded gold for Best Flexo Print on Film in the narrow web category of the European Flexographic Industry Association awards. Edale UK and Ireland sales manager Chris Chappel said: “The quality that Douglas Storrie Labels are printing on their Edale FL-3 is second to none, and this award certainly helps to cement this.” To register for the open house on 9 May contact Edale at marketing@edale.com...