NEWS FRONT

POLE POSITION WITH MEDIACO’S HP LATEX WRAP

VR Motorsport has unveiled a vibrant new racing car design to inspire and celebrate female drivers, printed by MediaCo using flexible HP Latex technology.

Vincent Randall, a former sidecar racer, launched VR Motorsport around ten years ago as an amateur organisation which quickly attained professional status, finding success in the UK and around the world. This year it is taking on the competition at renowned tracks including Brands Hatch and Silverstone in the BritCar Endurance Championship.

VR Motorsport kicked off the season at the Croft Circuit in July with a freshly wrapped Praga R1 racing car, featuring a design commissioned by Motorsport Woman to call attention to female drivers. After Round 1, VR Motorsport female/male racing duo Jem Hepworth and Danny Harrison were top of the leader board.

Dubbed the ‘art car’, the wrap is based on a 2D piece by artist Cain Caser that was transformed into a 3D wrap by MediaCo. Vincent Randall is also one of the founders and directors of Manchester-based MediaCo, a leading large format graphics producer in the UK, so the project was a natural collaboration. Its 36,000sq ft facility is packed with equipment used to produce everything from exhibition graphics to retail signage to wallpaper, but its HP Latex 3600, installed this year, was selected to

produce the full colour vehicle wrap.

“HP Latex inks don’t affect the surface of the material you’re printing on, so if you’re using glossy film for a vehicle wrap then it will stay glossy,” explains Vincent. “The inks are also very flexible, which is essential for wrapping cars like the Praga R1 which has a distinctive contoured chassis.”

The uniformity of finish and colour were important to replicate the artist’s original painting, in particular the intricate brushwork. It was not possible to scan the painting, so MediaCo’s graphic artists worked from hundreds of photographs to render the image. The project — including printing by the MediaCo

team, wrapping by Visionary Graphics and delivery to Croft — was completed in just one week.

“We like to tell the story of our drivers in our racing car designs,” says Vincent. “The finished result reflects the driver, Jem Hepworth, and the vision of Motorsport Woman’s owner Tara Strong. It looks great on the track.”

Vincent Randall says that MediaCo was first attracted to HP Latex for its environmental benefits, having already invested in an HP Stitch S1000 for textile work and achieving stunning results. HP’s water based, odour free Latex inks are GREENGUARD Gold rated at the highest level and are ozone free. Therefore, both end users and print room operators benefit from cleaner, safer air.

“Sustainability is the future of print,” says Vincent. “MediaCo was the first print company to achieve ISO 14001 in the UK, so we were very impressed by the story of HP and by the environmental credentials of HP Latex and Stitch.

“Even on the racetrack, environmentally friendly technology is developing. It’s a challenge for car companies but in a few years we might well be racing electric cars at VR Motorsport. I personally drive an electric car and we strive for sustainability in many areas across both businesses.”

www.hp.com • www.mediaco.co.uk

PRINT SECURE DEVELOP A LEVEL 2 STANDARD

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has granted approval to the print trailblazer consortium to develop a Level 2 Print Standard.

The Level 2 Print Apprenticeship is vital for people coming into our industry, taking their first steps on a career in print, or gaining accreditation in a role which makes up a huge proportion of jobs in print.

The application for the Level 2 was begun in 2016 and since then – through changing requirements – the consortium of employers, the industry, our training division, other training organisations and our relationship manager at IfATE have all worked together to gain approval of this submission.

The feedback received through the trade press and the information garnered from multiple surveys has proved to be consistently supportive and has continually underlined the need for this standard at every checkpoint. As such we thank everyone who voiced issues and supported the endeavour.

These standards now include occupational duties along with the knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required of a candidate.

Going forward, the consortium that will work through the development of this standard alongside the assessment plan continues to be led by James Buffoni of Ryedale Group who said, “Whilst this has been a long and challenging process, we never wavered because the need for this standard in print is clear: this Level 2 represents a large part of the workforce in print. As such a practical development framework and recognition of achievement will benefit a lot of people who could otherwise be overlooked. We therefore welcomed the positive feedback and acknowledgement from the review panel at IfATE.”

Ursula Daly, Programme Director at BPIF and main contact for the consortium proposal said, “This is indeed a great outcome for our industry and whilst we have a lot of work to do to get the standard and the assessment plan defined and we are delighted to have the opportunity to do so.”

If you would like to get involved with the consortium that will then go on to develop the standard and the End Point Assessment Plan then please contact Ursula Daly at ursula.daly@bpif.org.uk

For more information on the BPIF, visit: www.britishprint.com

SEVERN INVEST IN CANON’S NEW VARIOPRINT IX-SERIES

Severn, based in Gloucester, will become the first broader capabilities to customers, including the UK company to install the new Canon varioPRINT ability to print on a greater range of media from iX2100. The device will be Severn’s third inkjet 60gsm uncoated to 350gsm coated, which will help production printer from Canon and will help the to expand our customer base further in the future, company to further expand its offering to customers both domestically and overseas.” and welcome new business opportunities. As a result of the purchase, Severn has also

Severn operates in three key markets; print, hired a new Technical Director, Mark Allington, books, and mailing, and works with around 500 to create automated workflows and seamlessly small, medium, and large companies, including manage all output devices. Thanks to the charities and environmental organisations such varioPRINT iX2100 and the team’s growing as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. In recent technical expertise, Severn’s aim is to seamlessly years, Severn has seen major growth in book connect with customers and their warehouses via printing and publishing services, which now API technology. In doing so, Severn will open up accounts for almost 25% of its revenue. In terms of new opportunities to engage with print buyers, colour printing, it primarily produces educational publishers and print management companies with books and academic journals and wanted to grow this new, expanded offering. its expertise in these areas. Stuart Rising, Head of Commercial Print, Canon

Severn has been working with Canon for a on its next acquisition. Ian Smith, Managing Director UK, said: “We’ve worked closely with Severn for number of years and already owned a ColorStream of Severn, said: “Canon works and lives with Severn, a number of years, so we were thrilled when they 3900 continuous feed printer and a VarioPrint and has really helped us to transform and grow the decided to purchase our new varioPRINT iX-series. i300 sheetfed printer. Thanks to these purchases, business over the past few years. When we turned At Canon, we’re constantly looking for ways to help Severn has on-boarded over 70 new publishing to them to look for a new device to help fuel onour customers expand their businesses by offering customers and grew its business by 50% between going growth, we were delighted to learn that the them the very latest technology. 2017 and 2020. As a result of this sustained new varioPRINT iX-series was due to be launched. The varioPRINT iX-series not only offers business growth, Severn decided to invest in a Canon is really at the forefront for inkjet printing customers high quality, productivity, and new device to diversify its offering and expand its and the new varioPRINT iX-series has set a reliability, but also a cost-effective solution. As technical services for customers. When exploring new benchmark for this. The device delivers more opportunities are created in the market, the different products, Severn knew it needed a reliable breakthrough quality that matches offset, toner, and varioPRINT iX-series will help companies who are device that could offer high quality printing at a costliquid toner technologies, alongside the highest looking for a smooth transition to higher-quality effective price. levels of uptime and reliability, without having inkjet printing.”

As a result, Severn approached Canon for advice to compromise on cost. It will enable us to offer www.canon.co.uk

WOMEN IN SIGN AND GRAPHICS UK TO CELEBRATE

Sarah Winterbottom, Business Development Manager, Josero, and Izabella Ivanovici, Specialist Recruitment Consultant, INV Recruitment, have announced the initiation of Women in Sign and Graphics UK, a new initiative that aims to inspire, encourage and promote women in the industry, and are extending an invitation to celebrate

the launch by attending a special event Sarah Winterbottom, Business taking place at The Sign Group, Leeds, Development Manager, Josero

on December 3rd.

The group founders put the idea into action after realising they shared a passion for encouraging female talent, opening up opportunities for women, and promoting diversity in a male-dominated industry. They kicked off with a LinkedIn group, Women in Sign and Graphics UK, as a platform to build a community, start conversations, and provide support and resources to those that need them.

The next step is December’s launch event, which will include inspirational male and female speakers offering their perspectives on working towards a more gender balanced industry, with a particular focus on apprenticeships, education, and helping the next generation kickstart their careers. The Sign Group are supportive of the initiative and enthusiastic about the event, and

offered their premises as a location for the inaugural event. Women in Sign and Graphics UK is also working with The Printing Charity, and a representative from the organisation will be speaking at the inaugural event. Other speakers include The Sign Group, Sam Armstrong of Make It Happen, Marcus Timson of FM Future, Karis Copp of Karis Copp Media, and founders of Izabella Ivanovici, Specialist Recruitment Women in Sign and Graphics UK, Sarah Consultant, INV Recruitment and Izabella.

Sarah Winterbottom: “Our purpose is to unite Women in Signs & Graphics UK to inspire, encourage and promote women in the industry whilst being part of a group of like minded individuals sharing ideas and working with male and female ambassadors to help in our quest for the industry to be more equal.”

Izabella Ivanovici: “A massive part of the conversation will be how can we inject new blood into the industry and of course, how can we keep moving forward post-COVID. We want everyone to leave our events with a wealth of information and ideas as well as new relationships.”

To find out more about the initiative and/or the launch event, please contact sarah@josero.com or izabella@invltd.co.uk. To join the Women in Sign and Graphics UK LinkedIn Group, visit: www.linkedin.com/ groups/8853035/

CHROMA ENHANCES LAMINATION WITH FOLIANT FROM IFS

Reading-based full service print provider Chroma has enhanced its in-house lamination service with investment in an Intelligent Finishing Systems supplied Foliant Vega 400A laminator and Foliant Multi-functional Inprinting Unit.

Justin Earl, operations director, explains: “We already had a hand-fed laminator but needed something that could deal with longer run digital work as well as litho, as these jobs were being sent out to a trade finisher.”

The Foliant was chosen following a recommendation from a member of staff that used one in another company and a review of some market alternatives. Earl expands: “The Foliant had the right balance of price and performance to meet our requirements. It was the only laminator we looked at that ran at anything like its advertised speed.”

As for the impact it has made he says: “Being able to bring longer runs in-house has enabled us to deal with ever decreasing lead-times. As a result, we expect return on investment in less than 30 months.”

He adds that despite the pandemic the order to installation process was very smooth: “There was no impact on ordering and training aside from observing social distancing measures.”

The 18mpm B3 Foliant Vega 400A is a heavy duty, compact industrial laminating machine. It has an integrated deep pile vacuum feeder and a high

Jones and Palmer has refreshed its bindery capabilities and streamlined production with a Horizon SPF-200L bookletmaker from

Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS).

The corporate communications agency works with a wide range of household names including

Ocado, Superdry and United Utilities. It produces litho print on a KBA Rapida 75 and digital print on a Ricoh Pro C7100.

Stephen O’Brien, Manufacturing and

HR Director, explains: “We had a Muller

Martini stitching line that we bought second hand in 1986. The time had come to replace it and we speed bump separator, with non-sticky pressure roller and in-run adjustable twin decurl bar and overlap system.

It is equipped with the Foliant Multi-functional Inprinting Unit — a new addition that Diamond is looking to build into its service delivery. It makes

JONES AND PALMER STREAMLINES PRODUCTION

foiling and spot varnish fast and affordable for short wanted a system that was easy to use. We liked 640mm in length. JDF-ready, it offers instant setthe Horizon because of its flexibility. ups via a large icon based colour touchscreen for

“It also works from a flat sheet and, while we user friendly operation. The screen can be used produce both litho and digital, we think work for on the run fine tune adjustments as well as the will migrate more to digital. The bookletmaker is storage and recall of up to 200 jobs. perfect for handling that. The system was delivered in June and Mr

“We also liked it because it was easy to set up 0’Brien adds: “The installation went very which means we can get work on and off it very smoothly. The old line was taken out on the quickly. It is ideally suited to fast turnaround short Monday, the Horizon SPF-200L was set up on run work.” the Tuesday and training was completed on the

The 4,500bph Horizon SPF-200L landscape Wednesday – all within government guidelines. It feed bookletmaker combines stitching and has been operational from day one.” folding with the ability to handle sheets up to www.ifsl.uk.com

run and personalised print. It transforms output by applying foil or varnish to a pre-printed black toner. The sheet can then be reprinted mono or four colour. It runs a wide range of colours including gold, silver, red and green and a clear gloss for spot varnish.

www.ifsl.uk.com

PROFILE OF THE MONTH: SOVEREIGN SCREEN TRADE PRINTER

Covid-19 distancing products including face shields and floor stickers alongside screen printing onto a wide choice of media; labels, binders, covers, estate agent boards, point of sale, plastic business cards, fire and safety signs, vehicle promotional items and more.

Sovereign is a major manufacturer of quality screen printed digitally printed, hot foil and litho goods, specialising in labels, tags, signs and branding.

Email: sales@sovprint.com, or call the team on 01443 816414 for best advice. www.SovPrint.com