Printers Superstore to take its first Shinohara S orders at open house
The show, taking place on 26 April, marks the first time that the UK litho supplier can talk “seriously” about orders for manufacturing partner Shinohara’s S-series presses, Printers Superstore managing director Graham Moorby said. The Shinohara S range, which includes SRA2, B2, and SRA1 machines, was shown at last year’s Drupa, weeks after Shinohara was acquired by fellow Printers Superstore partner and B3 press manufacturer Hans Grohni. Moorby explained that while Hans Grohni’s order book (from customers worldwide) for the S-series presses was rather full, he and his joint managing director Richard McNeill could start placing orders for UK customers by the end of April. He said: “We are particularly interested in talking to customers about the Shinohara range of presses. Hans Gronhi became a top selling brand in the UK thanks to an unbeatable combination of low cost, high quality and the latest technology. It now manufactures Shinohara machines, meaning that some of the world’s most advanced patented offset systems can now be produced at a lower cost. “This means an unprecedented opportunity for high-end commercial printers here in the UK, as we are now in a position to offer the very best offset printing technology from B3 to SRA1 at truly affordable prices.” “We are giving the opportunity to people who might be thinking about that size of machine to ask questions and organise site demonstrations with us,” Moorby added. Due to the size and demand for the presses, there will not be an S-series model on show at the open house, but the Hans Grohni GH range’s flagship machine, the five-colour GH 525 B3 press, will be present along with its complementary Speedy 56 CTP system. The distributor will also be showcasing the Dumor range of finishing equipment for the second time since it signed an exclusive UK dealership contract with the manufacturer in September 2012. Those interested in attending can register at the company’s website. Printers Superstore will also be exhibiting at the Media Marketplace event that day, hosted by Print Yorkshire at Leeds United’s home ground. Meanwhile, Printers Superstore has been in discussions with the Ipex 2014 team after the Leeds-based litho supplier expressed its disappointment in organiser Informa Exhibitions’ decision to “refocus” Ipex 2014 as a digital and cross media event via an open letter. “Ipex 2014 is something that we still want to be a part of and we are committed to the show but are still finalising discussions as to whether we are going to the event,” Moorby said....
read moreBusiness as usual despite fire at Stockport printer
An automatic alarm was triggered at Signs and Labels’ Corrie Way factory at 11.30 last night, alerting fire stations in neighbouring Whitehill and Stockport. Six firefighters managed to contain and put out the fire, which the fire service confirmed had been caused by an electrical fault in an air conditioning unit. No further investigation is anticipated, a fire service spokesman confirmed. The company’s Richard Walmsley said the fire had broken out in a small room that contained some equipment and substrates but that although there was “some disruption” that any impact on the business was negligible. A fire service statment said: “It was started by a faulty air conditioner unit and it spread to some of the printing equipment, damaging around 25 per cent of the room. “All the doors were shut until we got there so the fire was confined to the room of origin.”...
read moreMark Allen Group to acquire PrintWeek
Mark Allen Group is one of the most successful independent publishing companies in the country and has singled out PrintWeek, which includes the world’s most popular industry website printweek.com, as a brand with a “brilliant future”. PrintWeek was founded in 1958, since which time it has grown into the UK’s leading title for the graphic arts industry, with licensed editions in Middle East & Africa and Russia and sister titles in Germany, India and Australia. However, Druck & Medien (Germany), ProPrint (Australia) and PrintWeek India are not part of the acquisition and remain part of Haymarket. Mark Allen Group chairman Mark Allen said: “PrintWeek is a superb brand and our aim is to enhance its appeal as a more considered fortnightly. The print industry is going through some challenging times which we need to reflect by changing PrintWeek‘s frequency from weekly to fortnightly. Once we have made this change, our view is that PrintWeek has a brilliant future.” The acquisition is expected to complete by the end of April, at which time the PrintWeek team will relocate to Mark Allen’s head office in St Jude’s church in Herne Hill, south east London. A timescale for relaunching PrintWeek as a fortnightly is yet to be finalised. As well as PrintWeek, Mark Allen is also to acquire another Haymarket title, Nursery World, and these latest deals follow the acquisitive group’s purchases of three other Haymarket titles in recent years. “We have been very successful with the previous Haymarket titles because, as a smaller company, we can extract maximum value and publish with the passion and commitment with which we are associated. We believe we will be equally successful with Nursery World and PrintWeek and we greatly look forward to having these brands within our group,” Allen said. Jane Macken, managing director of Haymarket Business Media added: “Whilst I am very sorry to see such fantastic brands and talented people leave Haymarket, I am confident that the Mark Allen Group offers a real strength of opportunity for both brands. “There are obvious synergies within their portfolio for Nursery World, in the early years’ sector. For PrintWeek, the group can offer increased focus and commitment for PrintWeek in the UK. The sale of the titles allows HBM to concentrate on its core markets in line with the company’s group growth strategy.”...
read morePrint industry news roundup: Thatcher, Redpack, FLS, Two Sides, X1/Catfish, Geoff Neal
Print industry reflects on Thatcher era“Divisive” has been the most-used word in national newspaper coverage following the death of Margaret Thatcher, and opinions about her legacy are also mixed in the printing industry. Redpack hosts £3m Anglia business fund launchNorfolk-based flow-wrapping and packaging machine manufacturer Redpack hosted the launch of a government-backed £3m Business Growth Fund, at its Norwich facility yesterday. Funding for Lending Scheme beginning to reach printersPrinters are beginning to benefit from the Funding for Lending scheme (FLS), the much-criticised government initiative to ease the flow of credit to cash-starved SMEs. International Two Sides webinar will share intelligence on anti-paper marketingThe campaign to challenge the anti-paper environmental campaigns moves up a notch with a worldwide webinar on Wednesday. X1 boosts business with CatfishSlough-based print and design company X1 has boosted business after installing a new web-to-print platform to replace its Kodak Storefront system. Geoff Neal invests in factory, finishing and software ahead of second XLGeoff Neal Litho has upgraded its factory, finishing and workflow in advance of the arrival of a Heidelberg XL 106-6+L...
read moreBenson Box managers gear up for gruelling 42-mile charity challenge
The hardy foursome will take on the Samworth Brothers Charity Challenge, a gruelling nine mile run or walk followed by a frantic six mile canoe race and exhausting 27 mile bike ride around Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park in Scotland on June 8. General manager Mike Owens, group national accounts director Jonathan Bostock, group financial director, Colin Kunz and HR advisor Louise Webster are hoping to raise thousands for the Midlands Air Ambulance. The event, in its fourth year, is run by food manufacturer Samworth Brothers, a client of Benson Box head company Benson Group. Owens said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to support our much-needed air ambulance services as well as one of our most successful and important customers. We will be pushing the boundaries of our fitness and endurance, but also taking in some absolutely glorious Scottish scenery. He added: “The Air Ambulance performs a most essential role and deserves our wholehearted support.” Generous souls can sponsor the team by clicking here or by texting CARD98 £amount to 70070. Benson Group makes packaging for companies including Two Sisters Food Group, Greencore and Reckitt Benkiser across four sites and employs more than 900 people. It expects to achieve a turnover of £120m by the end of this financial year....
read moreFinishing equipment supplier goes limited after 34 years
Elmstok became Elmstok Limited during a busy weekend updating its systems. It also introduced a new order and account processing system that will enable quicker order processing and despatch. The Wisbech company sells cutting, binding, laminating and finishing equipment and has seven members of staff working with managing director Malcolm Starr and his son Robert Starr, who is now sales and marketing director. He said: “Being a limited company will make things more professional. We’ve been doing well over the past few years, we’ve taken big steps in going computerised and we’ve got a good sales force so this is a further improvement. “We want to grow even more and be number one.” Robert’s brother James was made company secretary but works elsewhere. Starr senior has grown the company from a small concern run from the family home, also in Wisbech, to a successful business with two warehouses covering 2,044sqm, a showroom and a retail website Print Finishing Superstore, designed by Robert. The company also extended its showroom last month. He said he made the decision to change the company status on the advice of his accountant who said it was better for tax reasons and because he has a commercial property business, Malcolm Starr Property Investment, an unlimited company. “The liability didn’t bother me but this keeps Elmstok separate. I am also taking a bit more of a back seat,” he added. “We have quite a lot of new accounts so we are doing something right. We have done very well in the recession and increased every year. We benefit from mostly having more stock than our competitors.” Elmstok sells direct to customers and wholesale to distributors and has customers in Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong the USA and across Europe. It sells across industry sectors, from the public sector to the financial and design industries....
read moreStockport printer saves money and increases orders with Foliant laminator
After investing in a Ricoh Pro C751 digital press in May last year Fine Print found its demand for lamination work increased as its short-run orders went up. Joint managing director Lee Tilley said: “We didn’t have a way of doing it ourselves so we were outsourcing it. Because that involves a minimum set-up charge, it wasn’t really cost-effective. We thought it would make sound business sense to bring it in-house.” The company chose a Foliant Taurus 530SF, supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems, because of the level of automation and sheet size. After initially looking at an SRA3 size Tilley opted for B2 because it covered all bases and would avoid continuing to contract out. The 30mpm laminator will handle work from the Ricoh Pro C751 and the company’s more established B2 Komori Lithrone and Heidelberg Printmaster presses. It has a rising pile back separation stream feeder and a suction paper feed head. The new machine has reduced turnaround times from a minimum of 24 hours to same day. And Tilley says the company can take in more work as it is cost-effective to laminate short runs. He added: “It turns out we took the decision at just the right time because, since the investment, our suppliers have put their charges up. We had expected to achieve return on investment in 18 months but now I think we will be able to achieve that faster.” The company was established in 1987 by Lee’s father Jack and he now jointly runs it with his brother Scott....
read moreFunding for Lending scheme beginning to reach printers
The scheme, which was launched by the Bank of England (BoE) and the Treasury last summer, offers cheap credit to banks on the condition that they improve lending to the UK non-financial sector. Since its August 2012 launch the banks that have drawn money under the scheme have actually reduced net lending by £3.5bn (£1.1bn in Q3 2012 and £2.4bn in Q4 2012), while BoE deputy governor Paul Tucker admitted in February that FLS had not done enough to help businesses. Another criticism of FLS is that it has been used to prop-up mortgage lending, thereby sustaining the housing bubble that – due to record low interest rates – has yet to fully burst. However, in a welcome sign for UK print, it seems that FLS is finally having an impact where it was supposed to – amongst UK small business owners. Mark Nelson, director of Compass Business Finance, told PrintWeek that FLS-supported loans had started to become available from December. “We’ve lent about £1m since December; the money is available and you can get hold of it although it’s a bit of a tick-box exercise from a credit perspective and the kind of businesses that meet the requirements tend to be well-established rather than new or struggling,” he said. “But for those that qualify it will give you a saving of approximately 1%.” The FLS has a minimum borrowing limit of £25,000 and can be used for hire purchase but not lease agreements. Meanwhile, with the £350m fourth round of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) due to become available this summer, Nelson said that the mid-market was also set to benefit from an influx of government funds. “We’re working with a couple of lenders who are drawing up their criteria at the moment – a lot of it is going to be to do with gearing and liquidity, so covering any new debt through your existing profits,” he added. “If you’re borrowing £1m to buy a new machine but that it’s replacing a machine with £500,000 outstanding debt on it then they will take into account that that £500,000 is coming off the balance sheet, but you still need to be able to cover the payments on the new debt from existing profits.” Nelson said in “marginal cases” a lender might take into consideration the expected increase in profitability from installing a more efficient machine, but stressed that he did not expect this to be the norm. “They want to lend prudently,” he added. Applications for RGF funds outstripped the £350m fourth-round pot by more than 400%, coming in at £1.9bn across the 309 bids. The top regional bidder – both in value and number of bids – was the North West, which submitted 58 bids (19% of the total) for a combined total of £316m (17% of the total). All bids will now be put to the Independent Advisory Panel, chaired by Lord Heseltine, which will make recommendations to a Ministerial Group led by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg....
read morePankaboard to open UK office
Headed by sales director Mark Aubrey, the Nottingham-based operation will be manned by a team of three who will focus on growing sales through new business and developing existing UK customer relationships. Aubrey, who has previously worked with cartonboard specialists such as FC Cartons, HedsorBoard and Warren Board, said that the new operation would focus on developing “a closer relationship with the UK market”. He added: “We want to grow and to have more direct access to the carton conversion market in the UK on our coated folding box boards and also to look for new opportunities for our uncoated materials, particularly in the food market. “Our speciality is that we go up to some very thick calipers – around 650microns – which most box board mills stop at.” Pankaboard manufactures more than 100,000 tonnes of cartonboard and speciality board per year from its Eastern Finland facility in Pankakoski. The €100m turnover, 160-staff firm already exports the majority of its products, which are PEFC and FSC certified, to Europe, North America and Asia. Aubrey said he hoped the added focus through the new office would double the “moderate” tonnage currently exported to the UK. “This will give us more control on our presence and more intensity in the UK market,” he added....
read moreTullis Russell recruits former Linpac Group CEO to non-exec role
The independent Scottish papermaking and speciality coating group said that Arrowsmith would work with its board to drive growth and development in domestic and international markets. Arrowsmith is also a former chief executive of global logistics company Tibbett & Britten. Tullis Russell chairman Fred Bowden said: “We have a clear strategy for future growth and this appointment is a key part of that. Mike brings significant relevant experience to the Board. He will complement the broad range of skills on our Board and I am confident that his knowledge and understanding will add weight to our customer offering. I look forward to working with him to progress the development of our Group.” Arrowsmith said: “I am delighted to be joining Tullis Russell with its strong market position, innovative product range and unique ownership structure. I look forward to working with my board colleagues as we build on the company’s impressive history.”...
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