The business, set up more than 40 years ago, bought a Xerox C75 and a Xerox DocuColor 7002 to beef up its small-format offering . One the large-format side, the company is buying a Canon iPF 9000 as part of the investment. LT Print is also looking at buying an Oce ColorWave 650 and a flatbed press. The company also runs five Heidelberg presses including a five-colour Speedmaster 74. “We will bring all our operations under one roof and allow both the design and print department and the digital team to work closer together,” said sales director Jon Aindow. “We have doubled our digital printing capacity but customers will still be able to drop-in for ad-hoc printing queries and to place orders. “We used to outsource digital work but hope to bring it all in house and hope this equipment will add £500,000 of business in posters, banners and exhibition graphics. Printing is constantly evolving and it has been essential for us to keep pace with new developments in technology.” LT Print has more than 40 staff and a turnover of almost £3m from work for education, health, commercial, hospitality and leisure sectors. Clients Claridge’s and the Savoy hotels, Coors Brewery, Bank of Scotland, Liverpool Football Club, Forum Housing Association and a several NHS Trusts....

Following government confirmation yesterday that Royal Mail is to be privatised, with an initial public offering in the coming weeks, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) confirmed its intent to carry out a planned ballot of 125,000 members on 20 September for a national postal strike. The CWU will announce the result on 3 October, with seven days’ notice necessary before any industrial action could begin, meaning workers could strike from 10 October. But Royal Mail chief executive Moya Green has criticised the move. She said: “Talk of a ballot for industrial action makes no sense when there is a significant three-year deal on the table and negotiations are ongoing. It is now time for Royal Mail and the CWU to come to a new agreement for our people going forward. “I understand our people’s concern that they should have protections in place as Royal Mail is privatised, which is why we have proposed a ground-breaking three-year, legally binding agreement including a highly competitive pay offer of 8.6%. “But the company and our customers need protections too. We want to ensure that, in future, any disputes are settled through dialogue, mediation and arbitration. “It is because our customers trust us and value the service we provide that there should not be a strike at this crucial time. If businesses can’t rely on us, they will look elsewhere to protect their own business.” The CWU is in dispute with the national postal service over pay and conditions. Open-ended talks between the two sides are ongoing with, as yet, no settlement being reached. In June, a consultative ballot of CWU members voted overwhelmingly (96%) against privatisation and in favour of the CWU pay claim and a policy of non-cooperation. Of the 74% who responded, 92% also supported a boycott of DSA providers. Yesterday, the CWU confirmed that it was seeking legal advice on how to incorporate such a boycott as part of any industrial action that may take place....

Following government confirmation yesterday that Royal Mail is to be privatised, with an initial public offering in the coming weeks, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) confirmed its intent to carry out a planned ballot of 125,000 members on 20 September for a national postal strike. The CWU will announce the result on 3 October, with seven days’ notice necessary before any industrial action could begin, meaning workers could strike from 10 October. But Royal Mail chief executive Moya Green has criticised the move. She said: “Talk of a ballot for industrial action makes no sense when there is a significant three-year deal on the table and negotiations are ongoing. It is now time for Royal Mail and the CWU to come to a new agreement for our people going forward. “I understand our people’s concern that they should have protections in place as Royal Mail is privatised, which is why we have proposed a ground-breaking three-year, legally binding agreement including a highly competitive pay offer of 8.6%. “But the company and our customers need protections too. We want to ensure that, in future, any disputes are settled through dialogue, mediation and arbitration. “It is because our customers trust us and value the service we provide that there should not be a strike at this crucial time. If businesses can’t rely on us, they will look elsewhere to protect their own business.” The CWU is in dispute with the national postal service over pay and conditions. Open-ended talks between the two sides are ongoing with, as yet, no settlement being reached. In June, a consultative ballot of CWU members voted overwhelmingly (96%) against privatisation and in favour of the CWU pay claim and a policy of non-cooperation. Of the 74% who responded, 92% also supported a boycott of DSA providers. Yesterday, the CWU confirmed that it was seeking legal advice on how to incorporate such a boycott as part of any industrial action that may take place....

Recent revisions to the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 have inspired printers to think more carefully about waste management, according to the company. The regulations were recently revised to require businesses to formally confirm they have applied a ‘waste management hierarchy’, whereby options for waste disposal for all products are considered in a certain order. Printers must now provide a declaration on waste transfer or consignment notes that this hierarchy has been applied. This, J&G believes, has led to a heightened awareness of intelligent waste disposal among a wider cross-section of printers. The result, it said, was that printers are now more likely to contact a company with an established reputation for recycling. “Telephone calls about this, together with visits to our website, have shown a significant increase since the introduction of the new regulations. Getting information about the final destination of waste and how it is recycled seems to be of particular interest and it’s the most popular section of our website,” said John Haines, general manager at J&G. Customer care manager Richard Spreadbury added: “Printers today are far more aware of their responsibilities than they’ve ever been. Printers have dragged themselves up from a really messy place 10 or 15 years ago to being really on top of their game today.” Now having to comply with more stringent waste disposal legislation has made more printers realise the cost benefits of recycling, said Spreadbury. Also a contributing factor is the rise of landfill costs for six consecutive years to £72 a tonne today, a figure set to rise again next year. “Everybody is now watching every penny. The printers that we deal with want to make sure they’re getting the best value for money. They want to make sure the waste streams that cost them money are as clean as possible, but also that they’re making money from waste streams where possible,” said Spreadbury. He added: “Reducing costs isn’t always about saying ‘we can do that for £10 less’, it’s encouraging people to utilise storage containers the right way, for example, rather than throwing stuff into a container, so that they’re not paying to transport air rather than materials.” J&G advises that the first step in applying a waste management hierarchy and reducing costs, is enlisting a waste management company to perform a waste audit....

Recent revisions to the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 have inspired printers to think more carefully about waste management, according to the company. The regulations were recently revised to require businesses to formally confirm they have applied a ‘waste management hierarchy’, whereby options for waste disposal for all products are considered in a certain order. Printers must now provide a declaration on waste transfer or consignment notes that this hierarchy has been applied. This, J&G believes, has led to a heightened awareness of intelligent waste disposal among a wider cross-section of printers. The result, it said, was that printers are now more likely to contact a company with an established reputation for recycling. “Telephone calls about this, together with visits to our website, have shown a significant increase since the introduction of the new regulations. Getting information about the final destination of waste and how it is recycled seems to be of particular interest and it’s the most popular section of our website,” said John Haines, general manager at J&G. Customer care manager Richard Spreadbury added: “Printers today are far more aware of their responsibilities than they’ve ever been. Printers have dragged themselves up from a really messy place 10 or 15 years ago to being really on top of their game today.” Now having to comply with more stringent waste disposal legislation has made more printers realise the cost benefits of recycling, said Spreadbury. Also a contributing factor is the rise of landfill costs for six consecutive years to £72 a tonne today, a figure set to rise again next year. “Everybody is now watching every penny. The printers that we deal with want to make sure they’re getting the best value for money. They want to make sure the waste streams that cost them money are as clean as possible, but also that they’re making money from waste streams where possible,” said Spreadbury. He added: “Reducing costs isn’t always about saying ‘we can do that for £10 less’, it’s encouraging people to utilise storage containers the right way, for example, rather than throwing stuff into a container, so that they’re not paying to transport air rather than materials.” J&G advises that the first step in applying a waste management hierarchy and reducing costs, is enlisting a waste management company to perform a waste audit....