The new event, Functional Printing China, is being organised by Messe Dusseldorf along with the Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China (PEIAC) and will focus on current and future trends and applications particularly within the printed electronics market. The inaugural event will take place in Beijing on 16 May alongside printing technology trade show China Print, which runs from 14-18 May. It is anticipated that in future years the event could become a standalone show. Deputy managing director of Messe Dusseldorf and chairman of its subsidiary Messe Dusseldorf China, Hans Werner Reinhard, confirmed: “We’ve decided to start with a small conference this year that can run alongside China Print and in the future it will either be in combination with one of our shows or if it becomes big enough it will become its own event.” This year’s Functional Printing China will comprise a series of presentations from around eight speakers, including PolyIC chief executive Wolfgang Mildner, NovaCentrix vice president Stan Farmsworth and Heidelberg’s Martin Schmitt-Lewen, as well as Chinese speakers. Presentations at the event, for which there are 200 tickets available at €200 (£170) each, will be translated for Chinese and English speaking delegates. Reinhard said that from 2014 onwards the event would grow in floor space to include an area for global manufacturers and consumables firms to exhibit. He said: “This is an opportunity for the marketplace in China. We want to grow it step-by-step, it’s not about having 200 exhibitors within two years, this is a niche platform that we want to grow.” Reinhard said that Messe Dusseldorf had “started a special focus” on printed electronics last year with its Printed Electronic Products and Solutions (PEPSO) stand at Drupa 2012. It has also recreated this for a range of specialist trade fairs including retail, medicine, glass processing, packaging and plastic converting. “With Functional Printing China, functional printing is the umbrella term for the event and we highlight the topic of printed electronics within that because they have a growing impact throughout the value chain,” Reinhard said. “China will be a market where a lot of these end products will be produced and they will need the machinery to do that so this is a perfect platform.” He added: “By Drupa 2016 we will have grown this functional printing area and we will see that reflected at the next event.”...

An automatic alarm was triggered at Signs and Labels’ Corrie Way factory at 11.30 last night, alerting fire stations in neighbouring Whitehill and Stockport. Six firefighters managed to contain and put out the fire, which the fire service confirmed had been caused by an electrical fault in an air conditioning unit. No further investigation is anticipated, a fire service spokesman confirmed. The company’s Richard Walmsley said the fire had broken out in a small room that contained some equipment and substrates but that although there was “some disruption” that any impact on the business was negligible. A fire service statment said: “It was started by a faulty air conditioner unit and it spread to some of the printing equipment, damaging around 25 per cent of the room. “All the doors were shut until we got there so the fire was confined to the room of origin.”...

The show, taking place on 26 April, marks the first time that the UK litho supplier can talk “seriously” about orders for manufacturing partner Shinohara’s S-series presses, Printers Superstore managing director Graham Moorby said. The Shinohara S range, which includes SRA2, B2, and SRA1 machines, was shown at last year’s Drupa, weeks after Shinohara was acquired by fellow Printers Superstore partner and B3 press manufacturer Hans Grohni. Moorby explained that while Hans Grohni’s order book (from customers worldwide) for the S-series presses was rather full, he and his joint managing director Richard McNeill could start placing orders for UK customers by the end of April. He said: “We are particularly interested in talking to customers about the Shinohara range of presses. Hans Gronhi became a top selling brand in the UK thanks to an unbeatable combination of low cost, high quality and the latest technology. It now manufactures Shinohara machines, meaning that some of the world’s most advanced patented offset systems can now be produced at a lower cost. “This means an unprecedented opportunity for high-end commercial printers here in the UK, as we are now in a position to offer the very best offset printing technology from B3 to SRA1 at truly affordable prices.” “We are giving the opportunity to people who might be thinking about that size of machine to ask questions and organise site demonstrations with us,” Moorby added. Due to the size and demand for the presses, there will not be an S-series model on show at the open house, but the Hans Grohni GH range’s flagship machine, the five-colour GH 525 B3 press, will be present along with its complementary Speedy 56 CTP system. The distributor will also be showcasing the Dumor range of finishing equipment for the second time since it signed an exclusive UK dealership contract with the manufacturer in September 2012. Those interested in attending can register at the company’s website. Printers Superstore will also be exhibiting at the Media Marketplace event that day, hosted by Print Yorkshire at Leeds United’s home ground. Meanwhile, Printers Superstore has been in discussions with the Ipex 2014 team after the Leeds-based litho supplier expressed its disappointment in organiser Informa Exhibitions’ decision to “refocus” Ipex 2014 as a digital and cross media event via an open letter. “Ipex 2014 is something that we still want to be a part of and we are committed to the show but are still finalising discussions as to whether we are going to the event,” Moorby said....

Mark Allen Group is one of the most successful independent publishing companies in the country and has singled out PrintWeek, which includes the world’s most popular industry website printweek.com, as a brand with a “brilliant future”. PrintWeek was founded in 1958, since which time it has grown into the UK’s leading title for the graphic arts industry, with licensed editions in Middle East & Africa and Russia and sister titles in Germany, India and Australia. However, Druck & Medien (Germany), ProPrint (Australia) and PrintWeek India are not part of the acquisition and remain part of Haymarket. Mark Allen Group chairman Mark Allen said: “PrintWeek is a superb brand and our aim is to enhance its appeal as a more considered fortnightly. The print industry is going through some challenging times which we need to reflect by changing PrintWeek‘s frequency from weekly to fortnightly. Once we have made this change, our view is that PrintWeek has a brilliant future.” The acquisition is expected to complete by the end of April, at which time the PrintWeek team will relocate to Mark Allen’s head office in St Jude’s church in Herne Hill, south east London. A timescale for relaunching PrintWeek as a fortnightly is yet to be finalised. As well as PrintWeek, Mark Allen is also to acquire another Haymarket title, Nursery World, and these latest deals follow the acquisitive group’s purchases of three other Haymarket titles in recent years. “We have been very successful with the previous Haymarket titles because, as a smaller company, we can extract maximum value and publish with the passion and commitment with which we are associated. We believe we will be equally successful with Nursery World and PrintWeek and we greatly look forward to having these brands within our group,” Allen said. Jane Macken, managing director of Haymarket Business Media added: “Whilst I am very sorry to see such fantastic brands and talented people leave Haymarket, I am confident that the Mark Allen Group offers a real strength of opportunity for both brands. “There are obvious synergies within their portfolio for Nursery World, in the early years’ sector. For PrintWeek, the group can offer increased focus and commitment for PrintWeek in the UK. The sale of the titles allows HBM to concentrate on its core markets in line with the company’s group growth strategy.”...

Print industry reflects on Thatcher era“Divisive” has been the most-used word in national newspaper coverage following the death of Margaret Thatcher, and opinions about her legacy are also mixed in the printing industry. Redpack hosts £3m Anglia business fund launchNorfolk-based flow-wrapping and packaging machine manufacturer Redpack hosted the launch of a government-backed £3m Business Growth Fund, at its Norwich facility yesterday. Funding for Lending Scheme beginning to reach printersPrinters are beginning to benefit from the Funding for Lending scheme (FLS), the much-criticised government initiative to ease the flow of credit to cash-starved SMEs. International Two Sides webinar will share intelligence on anti-paper marketingThe campaign to challenge the anti-paper environmental campaigns moves up a notch with a worldwide webinar on Wednesday. X1 boosts business with CatfishSlough-based print and design company X1 has boosted business after installing a new web-to-print platform to replace its Kodak Storefront system. Geoff Neal invests in factory, finishing and software ahead of second XLGeoff Neal Litho has upgraded its factory, finishing and workflow in advance of the arrival of a Heidelberg XL 106-6+L...