Oriam Green secures distributor deal for Bee-Lite
Claimed by the distributor to be stronger than other honeycomb board substrates, Bee-Lite is light-weight and transportable yet robust and is ideal for exhibition graphics and stands. It is designed to be simple to slot together, disassemble and dispose of and is claimed to be 100% recyclable. The product complements Oriam Green’s other, more robust signage and stand board Reboard, by offering a cheaper alternative, said Oriam director Craig MacWilliam. “This will be ideal for the printer with a digital flatbed printer and cutting machine that wants to go green but in a very cost-effective way,” he said. “Previous honeycomb boards might not have been strong enough and don’t react well to going under lamps in the digital process, but this does.”...
read moreOriam Green to supply Bee-Lite board
Claimed by the distributor to be stronger than other honeycomb board substrates, Bee-Lite is light-weight and transportable yet robust and is ideal for exhibition graphics and stands. It is designed to be simple to slot together, disassemble and dispose of and is claimed to be 100% recyclable. The product complements Oriam Green’s other, more robust signage and stand board Reboard, by offering a cheaper alternative, said Oriam director Craig MacWilliam. “This will be ideal for the printer with a digital flatbed printer and cutting machine that wants to go green but in a very cost-effective way,” he said. “Previous honeycomb boards might not have been strong enough and don’t react well to going under lamps in the digital process, but this does.”...
read moreOriam Green to supply Bee-Lite board
Claimed by the distributor to be stronger than other honeycomb board substrates, Bee-Lite is light-weight and transportable yet robust and is ideal for exhibition graphics and stands. It is designed to be simple to slot together, disassemble and dispose of and is claimed to be 100% recyclable. The product complements Oriam Green’s other, more robust signage and stand board Reboard, by offering a cheaper alternative, said Oriam director Craig MacWilliam. “This will be ideal for the printer with a digital flatbed printer and cutting machine that wants to go green but in a very cost-effective way,” he said. “Previous honeycomb boards might not have been strong enough and don’t react well to going under lamps in the digital process, but this does.”...
read moreTangent pre-tax profits tumble 40%
The company attributed the fall in pre-tax profits to “significantly increased non-recurring expenses” relating to the acquisition of rival web-to-print firm Goodprint UK, in November last year, and the subsequent closure of the Goodprint facilities and transfer of operations into its sites in Newcastle and London. Underlying operating profit saw a modest 6% increase to £1.62m (2012: £1.53m), including a £230,000 contribution from the acquisition of Goodprint, which fell short of company expectations. Revenues for the group, including marketing agency Tangent Snowball, Printed.com, Tangent On Demand, and the company’s Newcastle printing division Ravensworth, were up almost 12% to £24.3m (2012: £21.72m). Of this, Printed.com contributed £3.95m, with sales growth increasing by 99% boosted by the integration of Goodprint, including the brands of Goodprint and Smileprint. Between 13 November 2012 and 28 February 2013 Goodprint contributed £1.2m in revenue. The company said that with its loyalty scheme tie-up with Avios, signed in March this year, and a high level of returning customers, Printed.com was making a consistent profit. Sales for Tangent Snowball meanwhile declined from £10.8m in 2012 to £10.65m while revenues at printing arm Ravensworth slid 7% in line with market decline to £6.25m. The company said that any spare capacity in its Newcastle facility was being used by its retail websites. Additionally the firm has reviewed its work for the estate agency market and plans to migrate all templates online so that estate agents can place orders online for a broader range of products. Tangent On Demand, the company’s on-demand digital print service, showed strong growth with sales up 5.2% to £2.24m. The company said that the increase of higher margin products on a range of substrates improved the competitive edge of the business with gross margin expected to improve further through 2013 and 2014. The board proposes a final dividend for the year to 28 February 2013 of 20p per share (2012: 20p). If approved at the company’s AGM shareholders will be paid on 2 August. Chief executive Timothy Green said the year had been “transformational” for Tangent. “Our retail websites printed.com and goodprint.co.uk now generate a large proportion of our sales and profits. We aim to capitalise on our position in the UK market and gain a greater share of the European markerts we now service,” he added. Green said that Tangent was entering the new financial year with clear “vision” and an exciting business proposition. He added: “Tangent will grow as our online customers buy from an expanded range of products on printed.com and goodprint.co.uk. We will continuously optimise our websites to acquire and convert customers more efficiently.”...
read moreTangent pre-tax profits tumble 40%
The company attributed the fall in pre-tax profits to “significantly increased non-recurring expenses” relating to the acquisition of rival web-to-print firm Goodprint UK, in November last year, and the subsequent closure of the Goodprint facilities and transfer of operations into its sites in Newcastle and London. Underlying operating profit saw a modest 6% increase to £1.62m (2012: £1.53m), including a £230,000 contribution from the acquisition of Goodprint, which fell short of company expectations. Revenues for the group, including marketing agency Tangent Snowball, Printed.com, Tangent On Demand, and the company’s Newcastle printing division Ravensworth, were up almost 12% to £24.3m (2012: £21.72m). Of this, Printed.com contributed £3.95m, with sales growth increasing by 99% boosted by the integration of Goodprint, including the brands of Goodprint and Smileprint. Between 13 November 2012 and 28 February 2013 Goodprint contributed £1.2m in revenue. The company said that with its loyalty scheme tie-up with Avios, signed in March this year, and a high level of returning customers, Printed.com was making a consistent profit. Sales for Tangent Snowball meanwhile declined from £10.8m in 2012 to £10.65m while revenues at printing arm Ravensworth slid 7% in line with market decline to £6.25m. The company said that any spare capacity in its Newcastle facility was being used by its retail websites. Additionally the firm has reviewed its work for the estate agency market and plans to migrate all templates online so that estate agents can place orders online for a broader range of products. Tangent On Demand, the company’s on-demand digital print service, showed strong growth with sales up 5.2% to £2.24m. The company said that the increase of higher margin products on a range of substrates improved the competitive edge of the business with gross margin expected to improve further through 2013 and 2014. The board proposes a final dividend for the year to 28 February 2013 of 20p per share (2012: 20p). If approved at the company’s AGM shareholders will be paid on 2 August. Chief executive Timothy Green said the year had been “transformational” for Tangent. “Our retail websites printed.com and goodprint.co.uk now generate a large proportion of our sales and profits. We aim to capitalise on our position in the UK market and gain a greater share of the European markerts we now service,” he added. Green said that Tangent was entering the new financial year with clear “vision” and an exciting business proposition. He added: “Tangent will grow as our online customers buy from an expanded range of products on printed.com and goodprint.co.uk. We will continuously optimise our websites to acquire and convert customers more efficiently.”...
read moreScreen to launch new Truepress at Fespa
Details of the new model will be revealed at the show and will be showcased alongside the Truepress JetW1632UV flat-bed printer, launched at Drupa, and the Truepress Jet2500 hybrid printer. The manufacturer said it would be demonstrating the Truepress JetW1632UV’s 94sqm per hour speed on its stand, and highlighting the benefits of its latest super-fine droplet printheads that deliver 1200 dpi text as well as the printer’s photographic quality. Also on show will be Screen’s PDF Polisher software, which automatically applies different levels of contrast, sharpness and colour correction according to whether the image features faces or jewellery for example. Commenting on Screen’s presence at Fespa this year president of Screen Europe Brian Filler said: “It’s exciting to be unveiling a new printer at FESPA that expands our range perfectly and enables us to give the market a choice of precision printers to suit their businesses.” “Screen’s Truepress Jet wide-format printers feature precision inkjet imaging and engineering to give the market the best combination of quality, productivity and reliability to deliver fast return on investment,” he added....
read moreMimaki dye sub inks receive eco certification
The certification marks the inks’ compliance with the Oeko-Tex standard 100 and the Eco-passport certification system, which ensures that inks are not harmful to the skin. The Sb ink is an aqueous sublimation ink, launched in 2012, and is optimised for the Mimaki TS500-1800 textile printer for dye sublimation transfer. Mike Horsten, general manager, marketing of Mimaki EMEA, said the certification is a real benefit to garment manufacturers. He added: “Our textile printing products have been received warmly by the marketplace, and we believe this certification will help us gain even more credibility among textile printers looking for a short-run digital solution.”...
read moreScreen to launch new Truepress at Fespa
Details of the new model will be revealed at the show and will be showcased alongside the Truepress JetW1632UV flat-bed printer, launched at Drupa, and the Truepress Jet2500 hybrid printer. The manufacturer said it would be demonstrating the Truepress JetW1632UV’s 94sqm per hour speed on its stand, and highlighting the benefits of its latest super-fine droplet printheads that deliver 1200 dpi text as well as the printer’s photographic quality. Also on show will be Screen’s PDF Polisher software, which automatically applies different levels of contrast, sharpness and colour correction according to whether the image features faces or jewellery for example. Commenting on Screen’s presence at Fespa this year president of Screen Europe Brian Filler said: “It’s exciting to be unveiling a new printer at FESPA that expands our range perfectly and enables us to give the market a choice of precision printers to suit their businesses.” “Screen’s Truepress Jet wide-format printers feature precision inkjet imaging and engineering to give the market the best combination of quality, productivity and reliability to deliver fast return on investment,” he added....
read moreMimaki dye sub inks receive eco certification
The certification marks the inks’ compliance with the Oeko-Tex standard 100 and the Eco-passport certification system, which ensures that inks are not harmful to the skin. The Sb ink is an aqueous sublimation ink, launched in 2012, and is optimised for the Mimaki TS500-1800 textile printer for dye sublimation transfer. Mike Horsten, general manager, marketing of Mimaki EMEA, said the certification is a real benefit to garment manufacturers. He added: “Our textile printing products have been received warmly by the marketplace, and we believe this certification will help us gain even more credibility among textile printers looking for a short-run digital solution.”...
read morePostal union ballots members on DSA boycott
Around 112,000 CWU members will receive ballot papers asking them four questions (see below), one of which asks: “Do you support the boycott of competitors’ mail”. While the ballot is primarily targeted at strengthening CWU’s hand in negotiations with Royal Mail on pay, privatisation and working conditions – a strong yes vote on the question of boycotting DSA mail would give the union the mandate to introduce a boycott. “This ballot is about protecting the interests of our members and the future of the UK postal service. It is time to challenge Royal Mail and send a strong message to the government and regulator. The consultative ballot deals with the complex issues facing our members and the postal industry. We’re asking postal workers to support the union or allow Royal Mail a free hand to determine their future – there is no fence to sit on,” said CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward. The ballot will run until 18 June, with the result expected the following day. The union stressed that the vote is not a ballot for industrial action. The union claims that Royal and regulator Ofcom have no policy to deal with DSA competition and it fears that when TNT rolls out its own delivery network nationally, profits from DSA will be “wiped out”. It also said that “Unfair competition has undermined the universal service obligation and the jobs of our members” and it hoped that a boycott will force the government and Ofcom intervene on the issue. According to a CWU spokeswoman, the union would rather not take strike action. However, she added that a “strong yes vote” on the boycott would give it enough of a mandate to introduce it and, as the boycott would not be legally classed as industrial action, there was no requirement to give the mandatory seven days notice to Royal Mail. “Anecdotally, at a lot of the conferences and forums we’ve had in the past four or five months there has been a lot of support for a boycott, but as there would be so many people involved in it, 112,000, we really would like to them to be able to have their say,” she said. “We won’t be holding a separate industrial action ballot, as this is something different.” However, the union is entering uncharted territory by deeming the boycott as exempt from industrial relations legislation because it’s unclear whether the boycott could mean that CWU members are in effect breaking their contracts of employment. “It’s never been done before, so it’s very much a bridge to be crossed, so we’re going to have to see how things pan out,” said the spokeswoman. “If we don’t have to take the action, then we won’t just take it bloody minded. The whole reason we’re staging the ballot is to flag up what we see as unfair competition. If we can get that resolved [with regulator Ofcom] without having to take this action, then of course we will do that. But we haven’t seen any movement on that in the past year,” said the spokeswoman. In March, Ofcom set out its measures to protect the universal postal service. However, the measure only applied to competitors providing an end-to-end service, not DSA operators. CWU ballot questions Do you support the CWU Pay...
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