Infinity Finishing has been set up by co-directors Ian Simkins and Mark Winn. Both men have extensive experience of the trade. Simkins was most recently working at Prinovis Liverpool and prior to that was production manager at Andrews Print Finishing; while Winn has worked at a number of major print groups and has been involved with demonstrating and training binding line operators. Simkins said that since the closure of Andrews in 2011, a gap in the market had remained unfilled. “There’s a massive potential market for a finishing company like us. No-one has filled the void left by Andrews, because of the costs and expertise required.” Simkins and Winn, with support from Lloyds bank, have invested £600,000 setting up the new operation. The firm is based in a 600sqm unit on the secure Barwell Business Park in Chessington. Infinity’s target market includes printers based within the M25, along the M3 corridor, and in Kent and Surrey. A 14-station Muller Martini Acoro in “mint condition” was sourced for Infinity from New Zealand by Bindery Machinery Services. “The Acoro has camera recognition on the stations and the cover feeder, and has a split saw so we can produce jobs two-up,” Simkins explained. “We can run it with two types of glue, hot melt and PUR, because we see a lot of demand for shorter run, prestigious brochures that need PUR binding. We’ll be using Henkel glue because we want to go for the best.” Simkins praised all the suppliers who have helped to get the business up and running. “Everybody we’ve approached has been so helpful, it really does mean so much. So many people have come to see us already, it’s very exciting.” He said the firm was expecting to handle run lengths from 500 to hundreds of thousands, with the average likely to be 10,000-15,000. Infinity has taken on six additional staff and hopes to grow as the business take off. It is in the process of setting up its website www.infinityfinishing.co.uk....

In paper and printing the average level of employee absence fell from 5.6 days per year in 2012 to 4.9 days in 2013. This marks the second annual fall in absence levels since 2011, when the average number of days lost per employee rose to 6.8 from 6.3 in 2010. The downward trend in printing and paper is in contrast to the performance of the manufacturing and production sector as a whole, which has seen average employee absence increase from 5.7 in 2011 to 6.0 in 2012 and 2013. However, manufacturing still has the lowest absence levels of the four sectors included in the CIPD survey. Of the other three, public services has the highest absence rate at 8.7 days, followed by non-profit organisations with 8.1 days and private sector services with 7.2 days. The CIPD noted that, on average, absence levels had increased by nearly one day per employee to 7.6 days, returning to levels previously observed in 2011 and 2010. Short-term absences of up to seven days accounted for two-thirds of working time lost to absence in 2013, while long-term absences of four weeks or more were responsible for a fifth. However, there were significant variations between sectors and in manufacturing and production, short-term absences contributed to 76% of the total versus just 13% for long-term. The CIPD estimates that the annual median cost of absence per employee in 2013 was £595. For a full copy of the report, visit the CIPD website....

Infinity Finishing has been set up by co-directors Ian Simkins and Mark Winn. Both men have extensive experience of the trade. Simkins was most recently working at Prinovis Liverpool and prior to that was production manager at Andrews Print Finishing; while Winn has worked at a number of major print groups and has been involved with demonstrating and training binding line operators. Simkins said that since the closure of Andrews in 2011, a gap in the market had remained unfilled. “There’s a massive potential market for a finishing company like us. No-one has filled the void left by Andrews, because of the costs and expertise required.” Simkins and Winn, with support from Lloyds bank, have invested £600,000 setting up the new operation. The firm is based in 600sqm unit on the secure Barwell Business Park in Chessington. Infinity’s target market includes printers based within the M25, along the M3 corridor, and in Kent and Surrey. A 14-station Muller Martini Acoro in “mint condition” was sourced for Infinity from New Zealand by Bindery Machinery Services. “The Acoro has camera recognition on the stations and the cover feeder, and has a split saw so we can produce jobs two-up,” Simkins explained. “We can run it with two types of glue, hot melt and PUR, because we see a lot of demand for shorter run, prestigious brochures that need PUR binding. We’ll be using Henkel glue because we want to go for the best.” Simkins praised all the suppliers who have helped to get the business up and running. “Everybody we’ve approached has been so helpful, it really does mean so much. So many people have come to see us already, it’s very exciting.” He said the firm was expecting to handle run lengths from 500 to hundreds of thousands, with the average likely to be 10,000-15,000. Infinity has taken on six additional staff and hopes to grow as the business take off....

Infinity Finishing has been set up by co-directors Ian Simkins and Mark Winn. Both men have extensive experience of the trade. Simkins was most recently working at Prinovis Liverpool and prior to that was production manager at Andrews Print Finishing; while Winn has worked at a number of major print groups and has been involved with demonstrating and training binding line operators. Simkins said that since the closure of Andrews in 2011, a gap in the market had remained unfilled. “There’s a massive potential market for a finishing company like us. No-one has filled the void left by Andrews, because of the costs and expertise required.” Simkins and Winn, with support from Lloyds bank, have invested £600,000 setting up the new operation. The firm is based in a 600sqm unit on the secure Barwell Business Park in Chessington. Infinity’s target market includes printers based within the M25, along the M3 corridor, and in Kent and Surrey. A 14-station Muller Martini Acoro in “mint condition” was sourced for Infinity from New Zealand by Bindery Machinery Services. “The Acoro has camera recognition on the stations and the cover feeder, and has a split saw so we can produce jobs two-up,” Simkins explained. “We can run it with two types of glue, hot melt and PUR, because we see a lot of demand for shorter run, prestigious brochures that need PUR binding. We’ll be using Henkel glue because we want to go for the best.” Simkins praised all the suppliers who have helped to get the business up and running. “Everybody we’ve approached has been so helpful, it really does mean so much. So many people have come to see us already, it’s very exciting.” He said the firm was expecting to handle run lengths from 500 to hundreds of thousands, with the average likely to be 10,000-15,000. Infinity has taken on six additional staff and hopes to grow as the business take off. It is in the process of setting up its website www.infinityfinishing.co.uk....

In paper and printing the average level of employee absence fell from 5.6 days per year in 2012 to 4.9 days in 2013. This marks the second annual fall in absence levels since 2011, when the average number of days lost per employee rose to 6.8 from 6.3 in 2010. The downward trend in printing and paper is in contrast to the performance of the manufacturing and production sector as a whole, which has seen average employee absence increase from 5.7 in 2011 to 6.0 in 2012 and 2013. However, manufacturing still has the lowest absence levels of the four sectors included in the CIPD survey. Of the other three, public services has the highest absence rate at 8.7 days, followed by non-profit organisations with 8.1 days and private sector services with 7.2 days. The CIPD noted that, on average, absence levels had increased by nearly one day per employee to 7.6 days, returning to levels previously observed in 2011 and 2010. Short-term absences of up to seven days accounted for two-thirds of working time lost to absence in 2013, while long-term absences of four weeks or more were responsible for a fifth. However, there were significant variations between sectors and in manufacturing and production, short-term absences contributed to 76% of the total versus just 13% for long-term. The CIPD estimates that the annual median cost of absence per employee in 2013 was £595. For a full copy of the report, visit the CIPD website....