Miliband plans to reverse the April 2015 inflation-linked rise in small business rates if Labour comes to power the following month; rates would then be frozen at their 2014 level until April 2017. The rate cut, which is expected to save 1.5m small businesses £450 on average over the two years, would be paid for by scrapping the planned 1% cut in corporation tax, from 21% down to 20%, that is due to come in in April 2015. Miliband hopes to position Labour as the “party of small business” with the move; however, BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said that political parties should be supporting “all businesses – large and small”. “Large businesses are feeders for small businesses and the health of one directly affects the health of the other. What businesses need is consistency to allow them to plan for the future and policy changes – saying we’re going to rob Peter to pay Paul – don’t help,” she added. “There is a perception that large businesses have all this cash sloshing around, but we know from the print industry that it’s often the large businesses that are operating on the lowest margins. “The government and the opposition should be seeing business strategy as holistic rather than piecemeal; I think what everyone would like to see is an integrated business strategy rather than fragmented pieces of policy that are targeted at winning votes.” Michael Moradian, owner of Print Express, was also sceptical of the proposal. He said: “They’re saying they want to increase help for small businesses and get larger businesses to pay for it; on the face of it, who wouldn’t vote for that? “But 15 years ago who wouldn’t have voted for the government to build however many new hospitals? Except nobody realised they were going to be funded by PFIs that were going to screw the healthcare budget for the next 25-30 years. “It’s a nice sentiment and it’s hard not to say ‘yes, that would be very nice to have’, but the devil will be in the detail and I think it’s all sleight of hand based on Labour’s past record.” Labour estimates that scrapping the corporation tax cut would generate £340m in 2015/16 and £785m in 2016/17 and would affect 80,000 large firms; the small business rate cut would cost £250m in 2015/16 and £540m in 2016/17. The rate cut, for all commercial properties with an annual rental value of less than £50,000, would apply automatically in England, while money would be given to the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to fund the same cut....

The company said the updates were prompted by the growing trend for printers to bring lamination in-house to provide greater flexibility in lead times and improved cost efficiencies. “Updates to these remaining models provide users with additional features to benefit commercial and digital print, packaging and converting applications,” said Neil Elliott, marketing manager for distributor Friedheim International. These updates follow the recent updating of the Komfi Junior 36, Amiga 36 and 52, and large-format Sirius 107 thermal laminators. The Delta 52, which costs £39,400, has had a speed upgrade from 30m per minute to 35m per minute. New features include a coloured touch control panel with additional software functions. It takes paper weights up to 600gsm. “This makes the kit easier and quicker to use for the operator,” said Elliott. “It also has a de-curling bar that can be used with one hand as opposed to two levers that need both hands.” The Sagitta 52, formerly the Delta 52 Plus, stays roughly the same speed of 50m per minute but incorporates a new stacker with a maximum paper stack height of 73cm. The machine costs £50,970. The Delta 76 laminator, formerly the Sagitta 76/76 E, also stays roughly the same speed at 35m per minute or 50m per minute when fitted with a productivity upgrade; however, it now features an incorporated jogger and the same de-curling bar upgrade as the Delta 52. It costs £58,580....

The machine, which has recently finished beta testing, is designed for inserting applications where the primary document is a single sheet that needs to be folded from A4 to A5 or roll-folded to DL before delivery to the track of the inserter, where further items can then be added to make up the mail pack. Gerson Louzado, partner at Romford, Essex-based MTS, said that the Feedline 14 would save time and reduce labour costs by removing the need for an offline folding station. He claimed that the Feedline 14 would work with any third-party inserter, adding that it was more “robustly built” and performed “more consistently” than previous machines (from other manufacturers) that attempted to solve the same problem. The Feedline 14 costs £22,500 and is compatible with swing arm, rotary fed and friction fed inserters. It can handle a variety of paper stocks, from bond to gloss, in weights up to 200gsm and has a maximum speed of 14,000sph. It incorporates ultrasonic double detection, to prevent double feeds, and can accomodate a camera for matching applications....

The 115-staff company in Milton Keynes, part of US-based Ingram, specialises in economic and educational books but said there was a growing need for colour sections within these books. Lighting Source is looking at launching a print-on-demand journal service in 2014. “It would also be good to make inroads into children’s books in terms of older stock or back lists,” said marketing manager Andrew Bromley, hoping to tap into “nostalgia publishing” where parents order single copies of a favourite childhood book of theirs for their own kids. Comics was another possible area of focus, he added. The ColorStream 3700 prints at 100m per minute with a print width of up to 540mm. It features Océ DigiDot technology, which uses drop-on-demand inkjet printheads to jet drops of ink only when and where needed. Group managing director David Taylor said: “Publishers are facing many challenges: not only is there demand for quick delivery from customers but there is also the element of guesswork in determining how many printed copies of books will sell. “With the means to offer true single-copy POD, we are able to provide an inventory-free model for publishers, which means zero warehousing of stock. This offers cost savings, a reduction in pulping and an economically viable solution whether one or one thousand copies are required.” He added: “This printer is helping us bridge a gap in the market. Colour POD has previously been possible, but often at a high cost. Our new colour offer is a game changer for publishers as the cost to print full-colour POD books is approaching the price of black-and-white manufacturing.” Canon UK commercial print group director Craig Nethercott said: “Lightning Source is helping publishers meet the challenges of modern-day book retailing, using the power of digital print to develop opportunities for both itself and its customers. “The traditional method of estimating book sales, printing in high volumes, warehousing stock, together with the prospect of waste if sales are misjudged, is turned on its head for Lightning Source customers and this is a strong offering for the market.”...

The company said the updates were prompted by the growing trend for printers to bring lamination in-house to provide greater flexibility in lead times and improved cost efficiencies. “Updates to these remaining models provide users with additional features to benefit commercial and digital print, packaging and converting applications,” said Neil Elliott, marketing manager for distributor Friedheim International. These updates follow the recent updating of the Komfi Junior 36, Amiga 36 and 52, and large-format Sirius 107 thermal laminators. The Delta 52, which costs £39,400, has had a speed upgrade from 30m per minute to 35m per minute. New features include a coloured touch control panel with additional software functions. It takes paper weights up to 600gsm. “This makes the kit easier and quicker to use for the operator,” said Elliott. “It also has a de-curling bar that can be used with one hand as opposed to two levers that need both hands.” The Sagitta 52, formerly the Delta 52 Plus, stays roughly the same speed of 50m per minute but incorporates a new stacker with a maximum paper stack height of 73cm. The machine costs £50,970. The Delta 76 laminator, formerly the Sagitta 76/76 E, also stays roughly the same speed at 35m per minute or 50m per minute when fitted with a productivity upgrade; however, it now features an incorporated jogger and the same de-curling bar upgrade as the Delta 52. It costs £58,580....