“Nobody else has this level of flexibility, adhesion and opacity,” stated FFEI managing director Andy Cook. The Graphium uses Xaar heads combined with Fujifilm ink and an Edale transport system, with integration by FFEI. Fujifilm will sell the press in a number of European markets, including the UK. “Fujifilm came to us with a nice white ink about 18 months ago. White ink is difficult to jet, this one uses some clever technology and special fluids – Fujifilm pulled a white rabbit out of the hat!” Cook said. “It doesn’t crack, and it sticks to the substrate – you can’t lift it off with Sellotape. White ink will be the battleground in the years ahead,” he added. As well as labels, the Graphium’s transport system is also suitable for other substrates, such as tissue and film, and Cook envisages a wide range of potential applications for the device. “It could even be fluffy material, it won’t snarl up in the press and destroy it.” The press has a 330mm or 410mm print width and runs at up to 50m/min, with 35m/minute viewed as the optimum speed. It costs around £600,000 depending on the configuration. FFEI is also tempting buyers by offering a year’s warranty on the printheads, because of its belief in the reliability of the system. It took five orders at the recent Print 13 show in Chicago and will ship the first machines to customers in the USA next month. Shipments to European customers will begin in Q1 2014....

The Jetrion 4950LX was announced at Labelexpo last week. The roll-to-roll device features full LED curing throughout. “This gives a typical lamp life of 5,000 hours versus 1,000 hours with mercury arc lamps,” explained Steve Emery, vice president of EFI’s ink and Jetrion businesses. EFI claimed that the 720dpi print resolution on the 48m/min, 330mm-wide press also resulted in “the highest resolution for digital inkjet in this space”. “We are producing two point text with good clarity, which is important for applications such as pharmaceutical labels,” Emery added. Also new is a combination finishing module for inline UV varnish or lamination, and an upgraded inline laser finishing system with a choice of single- or twin-head 500W lasers. “This means we can keep up with the speed of the printer. The 1,000W option runs at 150 feet per minute,” said Emery. With white ink being one of the hot topics at the show, EFI also announced that a white ink version of the Jetrion 4950LX will be available in the middle of next year. “We will have the most opaque white in industrial one-pass systems,” stated Steve Billow, chief technology officer for inkjet solutions. “We have white today but we’re going to be moving that to our higher-speed platform next year.”...

The newswire has reported that Oberthur, which launch a hostile takeover bid for De La Rue in December 2010, would fulfil the print element of the £1bn, 10-year contract, while G4S would provide cash handling and security services. G4S, which is the world’s largest security firm, was heavily criticised for failing to deliver on its contract to provide security for the London 2012 Olympic Games, leading to members of the UK Armed Forces being called in at the last minute to plug the gap and costing the firm £50m. Following the Olympics fiasco, G4S announced that it would not be bidding for sporting contracts including the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil. However, the firm was back in the public spotlight in August when it was forced to withdraw its bid for the £150m contract to monitor criminals electronically after it emerged that both it and rival Serco had received payments for tagging criminals who had either died or been sent back to prison. The Bank of England’s £1bn banknote contract, which is likely to include a new generation of polymer banknotes, is due to commence in April 2015. De La Rue, which has held the contract to supply currency to the Bank of England since 2003, is understood to be rebidding for the contract. Other bidders are thought to include German firm Giesecke & Devrient, Canada-based Fortress Paper’s banknote division Landqart and UK-based Innovia Security. Oberthur and G4S were unavailable for comment....

“Nobody else has this level of flexibility, adhesion and opacity,” stated FFEI managing director Andy Cook. The Graphium uses Xaar heads combined with Fujifilm ink and an Edale transport system, with integration by FFEI. Fujifilm will sell the press in a number of European markets, including the UK. “Fujifilm came to us with a nice white ink about 18 months ago. White ink is difficult to jet, this one uses some clever technology and special fluids – Fujifilm pulled a white rabbit out of the hat!” Cook said. “It doesn’t crack, and it sticks to the substrate – you can’t lift it off with Sellotape. White ink will be the battleground in the years ahead,” he added. As well as labels, the Graphium’s transport system is also suitable for other substrates, such as tissue and film, and Cook envisages a wide range of potential applications for the device. “It could even be fluffy material, it won’t snarl up in the press and destroy it.” The press has a 330mm or 410mm print width and runs at up to 50m/min, with 35m/minute viewed as the optimum speed. It costs around £600,000 depending on the configuration. FFEI is also tempting buyers by offering a year’s warranty on the printheads, because of its belief in the reliability of the system. It took five orders at the recent Print 13 show in Chicago and will ship the first machines to customers in the USA next month. Shipments to European customers will begin in Q1 2014....

The timing of the flotation, with shares expected to begin open trading on 15 October, means the government will already have sold a sizeable chunk of the Royal Mail before the earliest possible strike action (on 23 October). Business secretary Vince Cable announced the IPO this morning, with an expected price range of 260-330p per share giving an implied market capitalisation of £2.6-3.3bn, and said that he was “encouraged by the interest shown by potential investors so far”. Cable said: “Today is an important day in the life of Royal Mail: people can now apply to buy shares in this iconic British brand. This will give Royal Mail access to the private capital it needs to modernise, as envisaged under successive governments, and enshrined in law by Parliament two years ago.” The offer is open to institutional investors and members of the public, who can apply for a minimum allocation of £750 (or £500 for Royal Mail employees) through intermediaries, via the website www.gov.uk/royalmailshares, or by post. The government plans to hand 10% of Royal Mail’s shares to its 150,000 eligible, UK-based employees, while its own shareholding will drop to between 30-49.9% depending on the demand for shares from investors. Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail, said:”Royal Mail has a unique place in the UK and that will not change as we move into the private sector. We will now be better able to compete in what is a fast changing and intensely competitive market. “I’m delighted our people will own a meaningful stake in the company and that the public now have the opportunity to own a share in our future as well.” However, CWU general secretary Billy Hayes criticised the timing of the move. “It seems remarkable that the prospectus is being issued on the same day that postal workers are being sent ballot papers for strike action,” he said. “Today’s announcement changes nothing in terms of the ballot which will go ahead as notified. Royal Mail is profitable and can continue to be successful in the public sector. The sale is driven by political dogma, not economic necessity, and postal workers and the CWU will continue to fight to save services as well as defend their terms and conditions.” According to the share offer, Royal Mail’s implied dividend yield for the year to 31 March 2014 would be approximately 6.1% to 7.7% on the basis of the expected offer price range and a notional full-year dividend of £200m (the amount Royal Mail believes would have been proposed if the company had been listed throughout the full year ending 31 March 2014)....