Speedscreen scores European Durst first
The 1012 will replace some screen capacity and run alongside a battery of analogue and digital wide-format kit already at Speedscreen, including a Durst Rho 800 flatbed and Rho 320 roll-to-roll. Tim Hill, Speedscreen managing director, said that he had been looking at investing in additional high-speed flatbed kit for a while and had thoroughly researched the market, including tests on some of the rival machines launched at Fespa. “I was never quite convinced by the others, but when I saw the Durst hidden away at an open house event in April I was just blown away. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the litho-like quality at the speed it was running, but I got my stopwatch out and more or less made my mind up there and then,” said Hill. “The comparibly compact footprint, thanks to the belt system concept, was another massive bonus.” The machine on the Austrian manufacturer’s stand at Fespa will be delivered direct to Speedscreen’s Maidstone, Kent site. The 2012 features Durst’s next generation Quadro Array printheads. The Quadro Array 12M printheads on the Rho 1012 have a drop size of 12 picolitres, offering 1,000dpi at speeds of up to 490sqm/hr. “It will be more than 10 times faster than our 800. We’ve just completed a job that took 60 hours, but on the 1012 it would have taken five hours, it will transform what we can do. It will certainly win back the work we’ve been losing on turnaround times,” said Hill The 1012 is equipped with eight ink channels. Standard configuration is four-colour, CMYK, while the remaining four channels can be configured with various combinations of light cyan, light magenta, white and Durst’s Process Colour Addition (PCA) inks of either orange and green, or orange and violet. Speedscreen’s 2.5m-wide machine will be configured CMYK, Lc, Lm and with three-quarter automation. According to Hill, his close working relationship with Durst will mean that his machine will also benefit from a number of developments over the next few months. “We’re not a beta site, in the sense that it’s a fully tested machine and we have purchased it, but there will be other things down the road that Durst will introduce, but I can’t say too much,” he added....
read moreDitto board proves a hit at Fespa
Ditto Formcore is a paper-based, fully recyclable alternative to existing foam boards. It is manufactured by EmLam, a sister company to BCP Fluted Packaging in Blackburn. The firm’s stand at the show features a large suspended 3x1m format sign printed on the material, demonstrating its dimensional stability even in the varying temperatures of an exhibition hall. “We’ve had key people from printers look at it and saying ‘that’s fantastic’,” said BCP chairman Brian Jones. “The two key benefits are that it’s extremely dimensionally stable, and it’s recyclable. It can go in the paper recycling stream so it’s easy for retailers – there’s no landfill cost,” he added. Martyn Hicks, sales director at Screenprint Productions in Brighouse, said: “I think this will be the new foam board. It’s flat, it’s recyclable, and it prints beautifully.” Formcore represents a £2m investment by BCP, which has patented the formulation. The board is made from embossed, formed paper finished with a high-quality printing surface suitable for screen or digital printing. The board was originally launched last year. It is now ready for full commercial roll-out after the company made improvements to the lamination following feedback from early users. Formcore is available in four standard sizes up to 1,524×3,048mm. For more information visit www.ditto.co.uk. A number of major point-of-sale printers are understood to be in the process of testing the material with retail clients. Proctor Paper & Board in Leeds is stocking the material in the UK....
read moreDitto board proves a hit at Fespa
Ditto Formcore is a paper-based, fully recyclable alternative to existing foam boards. It is manufactured by EmLam, a sister company to BCP Fluted Packaging in Blackburn. The firm’s stand at the show features a large suspended 3x1m format sign printed on the material, demonstrating its dimensional stability even in the varying temperatures of an exhibition hall. “We’ve had key people from printers look at it and saying ‘that’s fantastic’,” said BCP chairman Brian Jones. “The two key benefits are that it’s extremely dimensionally stable, and it’s recyclable. It can go in the paper recycling stream so it’s easy for retailers – there’s no landfill cost,” he added. Martyn Hicks, sales director at Screenprint Productions in Brighouse, said: “I think this will be the new foam board. It’s flat, it’s recyclable, and it prints beautifully.” Formcore represents a £2m investment by BCP, which has patented the formulation. The board is made from embossed, formed paper finished with a high-quality printing surface suitable for screen or digital printing. The board was originally launched last year. It is now ready for full commercial roll-out after the company made improvements to the lamination following feedback from early users. Formcore is available in four standard sizes up to 1,524×3,048mm. For more information visit www.ditto.co.uk. A number of major point-of-sale printers are understood to be in the process of testing the material with retail clients. Proctor Paper & Board in Leeds is stocking the material in the UK....
read moreSpending review receives mixed response
Chancellor George Osborne’s latest spending review implemented welfare caps, wholesale cuts across government departments and big infrastructure spending including the “largest programme of investment in roads for 50 years and in railways since the Victorian age”. Total government spending for 2015-16 will be £745bn, £120bn lower than if it had continue to rise at the average rate of the last three decades, Osborne said. The spending round delivers a total of £11.5bn in departmental budget reductions. These include cuts of almost 6% at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. However the department’s capital spending was put up by 9%, while more money was pumped into apprenticeships and UK exports and £2bn was set aside for Local Enterprise Partnerships. British Association for Print and Communication chairman Sidney Bobb said: “Osborne is making several cuts including at the business department, which isn’t helpful when you consider more people need to be doing business and trading. “Most of the cuts are almost immediate while most of the spending is in the future. He’s not putting any money in today but in 2015 which, coincidence has it, is the year for the election. “This is a political not an economic announcement; there is no jam today; there is no jam tomorrow, and there will be jam only when the election comes around.” BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said: “The spending review was pretty much as billed, but one of the things we were particularly pleased about was the government recognised it has to keep investing in the business sector and supporting it. “Osborne has made hard decisions: there are significant job losses in the public sector, and departmental cuts do have a negative effect on some government purchasing. So it’s important we continue to market the effectiveness of print so it’s not one of the casualties. “Meanwhile some of the infrastructure projects, while they may not be popular with people when railway lines go through their back garden, will stimulate aspects of the economy.” Commitment to keep investing in innovation, science and technology was a very positive sign, she said. Woodward added: “The figures on borrowing are disappointing, but overall it’s almost as good as we could expect. It’s very important everybody within the industry keeps emphasising the need for easier financing, continued skills support and stimulus to business innovation.”...
read moreSpending review receives mixed response
Chancellor George Osborne’s latest spending review implemented welfare caps, wholesale cuts across government departments and big infrastructure spending including the “largest programme of investment in roads for 50 years and in railways since the Victorian age”. Total government spending for 2015-16 will be £745bn, £120bn lower than if it had continue to rise at the average rate of the last three decades, Osborne said. The spending round delivers a total of £11.5bn in departmental budget reductions. These include cuts of almost 6% at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. However the department’s capital spending was put up by 9%, while more money was pumped into apprenticeships and UK exports and £2bn was set aside for Local Enterprise Partnerships. British Association for Print and Communication chairman Sidney Bobb said: “Osborne is making several cuts including at the business department, which isn’t helpful when you consider more people need to be doing business and trading. “Most of the cuts are almost immediate while most of the spending is in the future. He’s not putting any money in today but in 2015 which, coincidence has it, is the year for the election. “This is a political not an economic announcement; there is no jam today; there is no jam tomorrow, and there will be jam only when the election comes around.” BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said: “The spending review was pretty much as billed, but one of the things we were particularly pleased about was the government recognised it has to keep investing in the business sector and supporting it. “Osborne has made hard decisions: there are significant job losses in the public sector, and departmental cuts do have a negative effect on some government purchasing. So it’s important we continue to market the effectiveness of print so it’s not one of the casualties. “Meanwhile some of the infrastructure projects, while they may not be popular with people when railway lines go through their back garden, will stimulate aspects of the economy.” Commitment to keep investing in innovation, science and technology was a very positive sign, she said. Woodward added: “The figures on borrowing are disappointing, but overall it’s almost as good as we could expect. It’s very important everybody within the industry keeps emphasising the need for easier financing, continued skills support and stimulus to business innovation.”...
read moreMosaic launches POP division with Bezier chiefs
Managing partners Lisa Williams and Ian Carnazza both used to work at Bezier, which put its print operations into administration earlier this year. The new set up links together York-based Mosaic Group’s related disciplines of marketing strategy and creative, print management and fulfilment. The firm said it aimed to exploit twin gaps in the POP services market: smaller brands seeking to win space in a crowded retail environment, and larger clients wanting a more responsive service. Carnazza, former managing director at Bezier’s Wakefield operation in West Yorkshire, said Mosaic Group chief executive Tony Gill had been looking at the POP market for some time but had been waiting for the right moment and the right people to specialise in that area. “We follow the same model of print management and work with carefully selected printers and specialists in each of the areas of POP – creative, design and print,” said Carnazza, who will work alongside William’s who was big on the design side while at Bezier, he said. “We follow a low-cost, high-value solution and are supported by the Mosaic print management business,” he said. “We can be a significant part of the Mosaic family.” “With the backing of Mosaic we will stand toe-to-toe with traditional suppliers who offer purely manufacturing. We are not here to be a bit-part player and expect to be a multi-million pound business in time.” Gill said: “Lisa and Ian are the final pieces of the jigsaw. By combining their knowhow with the economies of scale and provenance of a £33m turnover marketing, print management and fulfilment group I’m confident we can give customers the best of both worlds.” The team, based at Mosaic Group’s print management and fulfilment creative hub just outside York, has experience of working with some of the leading names in fast moving consumer goods. At Bezier Carnazza worked with Boots and Dixons Retail. Earlier this year Bezier went into administration with the loss of around 400 jobs in West Yorkshire and Dorset. Administrators Deloitte said the company suffered a prolonged period of difficult trading. For Mosaic, meanwhile, the launch of Mosaic POP represents its latest expansion. The company bought DMS, a direct marketing agency specialising in charities, for £2.1m just over a year ago. DMS was formerly part of the Involve Marketing Partnership....
read moreMosaic launches POP division with Bezier chiefs
Managing partners Lisa Williams and Ian Carnazza both used to work at Bezier, which put its print operations into administration earlier this year. The new set up links together York-based Mosaic Group’s related disciplines of marketing strategy and creative, print management and fulfilment. The firm said it aimed to exploit twin gaps in the POP services market: smaller brands seeking to win space in a crowded retail environment, and larger clients wanting a more responsive service. Carnazza, former managing director at Bezier’s Wakefield operation in West Yorkshire, said Mosaic Group chief executive Tony Gill had been looking at the POP market for some time but had been waiting for the right moment and the right people to specialise in that area. “We follow the same model of print management and work with carefully selected printers and specialists in each of the areas of POP – creative, design and print,” said Carnazza, who will work alongside William’s who was big on the design side while at Bezier, he said. “We follow a low-cost, high-value solution and are supported by the Mosaic print management business,” he said. “We can be a significant part of the Mosaic family.” “With the backing of Mosaic we will stand toe-to-toe with traditional suppliers who offer purely manufacturing. We are not here to be a bit-part player and expect to be a multi-million pound business in time.” Gill said: “Lisa and Ian are the final pieces of the jigsaw. By combining their knowhow with the economies of scale and provenance of a £33m turnover marketing, print management and fulfilment group I’m confident we can give customers the best of both worlds.” The team, based at Mosaic Group’s print management and fulfilment creative hub just outside York, has experience of working with some of the leading names in fast moving consumer goods. At Bezier Carnazza worked with Boots and Dixons Retail. Earlier this year Bezier went into administration with the loss of around 400 jobs in West Yorkshire and Dorset. Administrators Deloitte said the company suffered a prolonged period of difficult trading. For Mosaic, meanwhile, the launch of Mosaic POP represents its latest expansion. The company bought DMS, a direct marketing agency specialising in charities, for £2.1m just over a year ago. DMS was formerly part of the Involve Marketing Partnership....
read moreBerforts and BT&D to merge
The two companies will come together at the beginning of next month as a result of a share swap between BT&D owner Felix Dennis and Berforts majority shareholder Gerald White. The duo will have a 50:50 share in the combined venture, with White taking over as chief executive. The new group will be called Berforts BT&D and has projected sales of more than £25m, placing it in third spot behind St Ives Clays and CPI in terms of size. Publishing magnate Dennis rescued Butler & Tanner in the summer of 2008 after it was controversially closed by then-owner Media & Print Investments. However, the Frome-based colour book printer has remained stubbornly loss-making, despite bolting on a profitable map printing business as a result of a deal with Ordnance Survey in 2010. Dennis has continued to support the company, loaning the business more than £5m and providing security for its £650,000 overdraft according to its last filed accounts. But he has also been evaluating sale options for the business since at least the end of last year. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in January 2012 but described himself as “provisionally” on the mend six months ago. BT&D made an operating loss of £1.5m on sales of £14.9m in the period from 11 February 2011 to 31 December 2011. The bottom line loss was £1.9m and auditors Bright Grahame Murray added a going concern note because the group’s liabilities exceeded its assets by £1.9m. However, White told PrintWeek that he was optimistic about the prospects for the combined entity once his business skills were added to the equation. “We’re going to turn it around,” he stated. “The deal has been done to make sure it doesn’t incur losses in the future. “Felix has supported this through thick and thin. He is determined and I am determined that it will be there for the long-term.” White urged publishers to support the new entity. “This is a British book printing company supplying British publishers. We are relying on the publishing industry to support us,” he said. Berforts, which acquired Information Press in April 2012 and the digital division of Bluepoint Cambridge three months after that, is profitable and set to achieve turnover of around £15m this year. It has operations in Hastings, Stevenage and Eynsham and employs 125 staff. BT&D employs 105 in Frome. The management structure for the enlarged group is “under review”, White added, and the group plans to continue with its existing locations for the foreseeable future....
read moreBerforts and BT&D to merge
The two companies will come together at the beginning of next month as a result of a share swap between BT&D owner Felix Dennis and Berforts majority shareholder Gerald White. The duo will have a 50:50 share in the combined venture, with White taking over as chief executive. The new group will be called Berforts BT&D and has projected sales of more than £25m, placing it in third spot behind St Ives Clays and CPI in terms of size. Publishing magnate Dennis rescued Butler & Tanner in the summer of 2008 after it was controversially closed by then-owner Media & Print Investments. However, the Frome-based colour book printer has remained stubbornly loss-making, despite bolting on a profitable map printing business as a result of a deal with Ordnance Survey in 2010. Dennis has continued to support the company, loaning the business more than £5m and providing security for its £650,000 overdraft according to its last filed accounts. But he has also been evaluating sale options for the business since at least the end of last year. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in January 2012 but described himself as “provisionally” on the mend six months ago. BT&D made an operating loss of £1.5m on sales of £14.9m in the period from 11 February 2011 to 31 December 2011. The bottom line loss was £1.9m and auditors Bright Grahame Murray added a going concern note because the group’s liabilities exceeded its assets by £1.9m. However, White told PrintWeek that he was optimistic about the prospects for the combined entity once his business skills were added to the equation. “We’re going to turn it around,” he stated. “The deal has been done to make sure it doesn’t incur losses in the future. “Felix has supported this through thick and thin. He is determined and I am determined that it will be there for the long-term.” White urged publishers to support the new entity. “This is a British book printing company supplying British publishers. We are relying on the publishing industry to support us,” he said. Berforts, which acquired Information Press in April 2012 and the digital division of Bluepoint Cambridge three months after that, is profitable and set to achieve turnover of around £15m this year. It has operations in Hastings, Stevenage and Eynsham and employs 125 staff. BT&D employs 105 in Frome. The management structure for the enlarged group is “under review”, White added, and the group plans to continue with its existing locations for the foreseeable future....
read moreFespa 2013 an outstanding success
Visitors converged on London’s Excel Centre from more than 150 countries with the highest representations coming from the UK, Germany and the US respectively, followed by France, Italy and Spain. Visitors numbers from India and China were also strong. Final numbers and further breakdown figures have yet to be released. Fujifilm head of communications, Europe Graham Leeson said: “The show has been more international than we thought, with the it being in the UK we did wonder how many people would travel.” For many of the vendors business was swift. Fujifilm sold seven Uvistar’s in the first three days alone beating its target of five. HP also had a strong show with two major product launches and sales in the “millions of Euros”. Director of market development, EMEA GSB Ronen Zioni said the show had exceeded expectations. “Fespa works because it’s focussed, which means that we can focus. So we can first inspire with the applications and then we show how to execute it with technology,” he added. Agfa Europe vice president Frederik Dehing said he was impressed with the show: “It’s been great to see so many different applications. Customers live on applications, that’s what makes it so interesting.” EFI managing director, EMEA Paul Cripps said: “We feel like there is new energy in the marketplace and signs of recovery, and we’re excited about what that potentially means going forward. We feel good about the deals we did and we have a lot to follow up on.” Fespa managing director Neil Felton said: “It’s been an outstanding success and surpassed all of our expectations. We are over the moon. “The only way these shows work is if the exhibitors have success and are happy and from going around the stands and speaking to the vendors it seems as if they have really done well.” Felton said that side exhibitions, including Fespa Fabric and European Sign Expo, had been a success with a number of bookings for the latter already agreed for Fespa Digital 2014, in Munich. Additionally he said that 50% of space for Fespa Munich 2014 had already been allocated and he expected to increase floor space due to demand. It was also announced that HP will sponsor the debut of Fespa Eurasia set to take place in Istanbul on 3-5 October. Meanwhile the show’s glittering gala night played host the to inauguration of Fespa’s 15th president, Augustus Martin joint managing director Lascelle Barrow who took over from outgoing, Gyorgy Kovacs. This is Barrow’s second three-year tenure as president, having previously held the title in the early 90s. “I’m immensely proud to be given the chance to serve Fespa as President for a second time, and to be taking office here in London, my home city, mid-way through a phenomenal FESPA exhibition. “As printers, we face many positive opportunities; to celebrate print’s role in a multichannel environment; to continue to embrace digital, both as a production technology and as a complementary medium to print; and to reap the benefits of being part of a connected and creative global community.”...
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