Page 23 - PWM2023_January

GLOBAL NEWS

Signage installer The Bank of England has
IN BRIEF

directory goes live unveiled the design of the
new King Charles III bank-
notes. A portrait of The
King has replaced that of
Queen Elizabeth II, with no
After a heavily oversub- clear very quickly that if we other changes to the exist-
scribed trial earlier this year, wanted to do it right, we ing design, which retains
its existing security fea-
a directory of signage and needed to develop it our- tures. The portrait will
print installers has moved selves from the ground up, so appear on the front of the note, as well as in cameo on the
out of testing and gone live that’s exactly what the team back’s see-through security window. Andrew Bailey, gover-
today (21 December). have done, and the result is nor of the Bank of England, said: “I am very proud that the
Bank is releasing the design of our new banknotes which
Established by industry something we’re incredibly will carry a portrait of King Charles III. “This is a significant
software provider Vism, the proud of.” moment, as The King is only the second monarch to feature
Signage & Print Installer It’s free to create a basic on our banknotes. People will be able to use these new
notes as they start to enter circulation in 2024.” All polymer
Directory – previously profile on the directory, banknotes carrying a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II will
Signage Installations which is open to businesses remain legal tender.
Directory – which helps It has moved out of testing from across the industry
wide-format print and sig- started as a small experiment including printers, signmak- The Wepa Group has start-
ed up a new paper
nage companies to find to see if we could help print- ers, freelance installers, and machine at its Welsh site in
installers across the UK, and ers and signmakers connect installation subcontractor Bridgend, doubling its pro-
soon internationally, saw with installers in other loca- companies with multiple duction capacity for the
more than 500 companies tions, has quickly become a crews. Users of the directory British market and creating
more than 50 new jobs.
and installers sign up during really exciting opportunity will be able to search for The paper produced at the
the trial period. for us. installers by location so they site is converted into toilet
Dan Tyler, founder of the “During the trial, we relied can find providers local to the and kitchen paper for the
platform and CEO at Vism, on third party software to test job, as well as filtering by UK consumer market. The new paper machine has a pro-
duction capacity of 70,000 tons of tissue paper per year and
said: “Our team are over the the water and see what appe- skills, certifications and is designed to produce hygiene paper products from virgin
moon to be putting this out tite there might be for some- accreditations, insurances fibres, as well as 100% recycled fibres. With its high energy
before year’s end. What thing like this, but it became and more. efficiency, the new tissue machine sourced from manufac-
turer Valmet will also significantly contribute to cutting CO2
Sappi upgrades Gratkorn mill emissions and water usage.The new paper machine is
designed to produce the highest quality in terms of soft-
ness, strength, and absorbency.
Plans have been revealed automation and electrical number of weeks”. Large format digital print
by Sappi Europe to upgrade equipment including drives, Some interruption will house UPG has backed up
and modernise its Gratkorn control systems, quality con- also occur on PM9 due to the its plans for expansion
mill in Austria. In a state- trol and inspection systems need for a reorganisation of with an investment in an
Agfa Jeti Tauro H2500 LED
ment released last week, the as well as upgrades to the internal logistics. Given cur- UV digital press. UPG, part
packaging and speciality coating profile and other rent market conditions of of the Picture Playground
paper manufacturer said the areas”. reduced demand and high Group (PPG), has seen
current upgrade and mod- During the preparatory customer inventories, Sappi rapid growth, doubling in
ernisation project would phase this month and the Europe said it does not turnover over the past two years. Run by two brothers, Kier
and Tallis Simons, it is also due to open a retail POS and
focus on Paper Machine 11 main period of work in expect customer business to visual merchandising innovation hub in Rochester in early
(PM11). It will undergo January, production on PM11 be disrupted during the pro- 2023. The new Jeti Tauro has joined the firm’s existing Agfa
“extensive modernisation of will be interrupted “for a ject period. Anapurna H3200i LED press, which has been the workhorse
of the POS and retail specialist’s operation. It was installed
Royal Mail warns on stamp rates in September. “We may have been happy with the
Anapurna, but that did not guarantee the Jeti Tauro sale,”
said Kier Simons, CEO of PPG.
Royal Mail’s chairman has wanted the requirement to Print procurement specialist Haybrooke is launching a new
warned that the price of a deliver on Saturdays to end. sub-service of its ‘printing as a service’ (PaaS) procurement
First Class stamp could go The business is currently model aimed at general resellers in the office sector.
up to more than £1 if the involved in a bitter dispute Launching on 4 January, the ‘Managed print category’ is
group has to keep making with workers who are mem- particularly targeted at office stationers and the like who
don’t currently have a print category, or who have a cate-
Saturday deliveries. Keith bers of the CWU, with more gory but where it is not being successful, according to John
Williams was speaking to strike days due this week on Roche, chief executive of the eight-staff business. The new
the Telegraph in an inter- 23 and 24 December. The service will see Haybrooke manage the category for them in
view published over the Price of stamps could go up price of a First Class stamp its entirety and, effectively, agree a percentage commission
weekend when he made the called for urgent reform of had already been hiked by for doing so. Haybrooke’s revenues exceeded £1m for the
claim. the Universal Service nearly 12% to 95p earlier first time in its history in its provisional accounts for the
In November Royal Mail Obligation, and said it this year. year ending 31 May 2022.
www.printweekmena.com January 2023 PrintWeek MENA 23