The Duchess is the patron of the Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) charity for which the Llandysul printer recently won a previously China-based print contract through a competitive tender.
The PCF’s remit is to produce printed and online records cataloguing every oil painting in public ownership in the UK.
Under the agreement, Gomer will produce in-house more than 90 400-page, full-colour, case-bound regional catalogues for the organisation. They will be printed on 150gsm Lumi silk paper, with satin coating, on Gomer’s four-colour B1 Heidelberg Speedmaster XL106.
Arriving by helicopter, the Duchess was given a tour of the site before officially launching the first five volumes, which cover The National Museum of Wales, The National Library of Wales, North and Mid Wales, South Wales and West Wales.
Gomer managing director Jonathan Lewis said: “It was a real coup to win this work and we were delighted when Her Royal Highness confirmed she would visit us.
“It was a perfect opportunity to showcase our factory after significant investment in the printroom and bindery last year. The work is full-colour, high-pagination, quality-critical and case-bound, so a perfect fit for us as it can all be produced in-house.”
On repatriating its print contract from China, PCF founder Fred Hohler said: “We chose Gomer as print partner because of a combination of price, quality and service. As a charity we have to look carefully at costs, but because of the nature of the project we were very keen to print here in the UK.
He added: “It was a happy coincidence that the first titles to be printed in Wales were the five volumes covering Wales and fantastic that our patron The Duchess of Cornwall could be present to launch these important books.”