Portfolio - In-Depth Interviews

Articles focussing on a key industry individual, be it an MD of an international company, or

an industry go-getter

print ● ● ● pensord

24 | August 2008 | www.printmediamag.co.uk

People factor propels Pensord’s growthAfter five years at the helm of magazine printer Pensord, Tony Jones explains to Laura Blows how he has fulfilled his aim of doubling the company’s size/turnover within this time, through his focus on people and relationships.

“I’m not comfortable being

credited as the person who

changed the fortune of

pensord: it’s a combination of being in the

right place at the right time, and the team

we have here,” says tony Jones, Ceo of

magazine printer pensord.

Modest he may be, but it is Jones’

focus on people, be it customers, staff or

suppliers, which has certainly helped

turn the fortunes around at this once

struggling company.

Five years on from his management

buy out (MBo) in June 2003, Jones

has made good on his stated aim to

double the company’s size within five

years. pensord now produces more

than twice the volume of work, from

121 to 330 titles, and has increased its

financial performance by almost double,

through an £8 million investment in

equipment and a renewed dedication to

customer and internal relationships.

However, south Wales-based pensord

was not enjoying such auspicious times

at the start of the Millennium. in 2000,

Jones was brought in to head up pensord,

“which was loss-making, under-invested

and suffering from low morale; the whole

business needed a lot of attention”, he says.

Jones set about improving the

business as much as possible, but with old

equipment “there was only so far we could

go without significant investment”. He says:

“i had a choice: i could either walk away,

putting people’s jobs at risk; i could just

put up with it which was never a serious

option; or i could undertake an MBo.”

so the decision to conduct an MBo

was made, and so came the possibility

for investment.

pensord quickly took up this

opportunity, investing in three Heidelberg

speedmaster eight-unit B1 perfector

presses, and a Heidelberg five-colour B2

cover press incorporating a coating unit.

A high-speed saddlestitching line

and two folding machines have also been

acquired since 2003, along with a new

Buhrs mailing line and perfect binding

equipment installed in January 2007,

bringing pensord’s investment in kit to £8

million since the buy out.

on the prepress side, pensord was

an early investor in Agfa’s delano web-

based file delivery and approval system.

Using delano, clients are able to quickly

and easily upload files, which delano then

automatically flightchecks and rips. the

file is then placed back onto the system

ready for the client to approve.

darren Coxon, commercial director

Pensord’s chief executive Tony Jones: “My aim was to change the culture of the business through honest, open communication.”

of pensord, says: “eighty percent of our

periodical clients use delano and this is

rising. Agfa has informed us that within

18 months we were the leading company

using this.”

While the investment in kit and

software helped to rejuvenate the company,

that alone does not transform a business,

Jones says.

He explains: “As pensord was so

underinvested, it was necessary to invest

heavily in a short period of time, to make

the company more efficient, modern, and

to bring it up to date.

“Companies put a lot of focus on

investment in kit, but not always enough on

people and relationships. investing in kit is

just throwing money at an issue unless you

make sure that people are motivated,

well trained and able to maximise the

efficiency benefits.”

improving the nature and attitude of

the business was Jones’ first goal after the

MBo. He says: “My aim was to change the

culture of the business through honest,

open communication, building trust with

our customers, staff and business partners.”

to kick start change, the pensord

Charter was launched in december

2003. derived from Jones’ own personal

values, the charter formalises pensord’s

Pensord.indd 1 15/8/08 15:59:59

business ethics of putting the customer

first, delivering quality, service and value

for money, acting with honesty and

integrity, developing a spirit of teamwork

and committing to a broader social

responsibility.

However, as Jones says: “Anyone can

just create a set of words and put them up

on the wall; we want to make sure that we

live by our values.”

Having established a charter, the next

step was to implement a free share option

scheme in February 2004 for staff, which

relinquished 25% of the company. This was,

Jones says, to reward staff for their loyalty,

as many of them had worked for the

company for a number of years,

and to motivate them to provide best in

class service.

Another initiative Pensord introduced

was its Pensord People Development

Academy. Launched last summer, the

scheme helps establish how best to help

individual staff members progress, be

it through NVQs or internal training. It

has also achieved the Investor in People

standard, which (based on information

provided by IiP and the British Printing

Industries Federation), only 2% of printing

companies have gained.

The next stage was to live up to its

social responsibility aim, by creating a

charity fund, which has since gained

charitable trust status. Pensord raises

money for its trust in three ways: by

employees participating in fund raising

activity; donating £1 for each print

project the company quotes on; and by

contributing a share of the profits. The

current employee-chosen charity Pensord

is raising money for is the Hospice of the

Valleys, for which £35,000 has been raised

so far.

Along with its social responsibility,

Pensord takes its environmental impact

seriously. It has achieved the ISO 14001

environmental management standard,

which ensures Pensord minimises waste,

promotes recycling, reduces energy

and harmful emissions and works with

ecologically sound suppliers. It has also

obtained both FSC and PEFC certification,

providing an assurance of traceability.

Through the charter, shares scheme

and charitable work, customer interest in

Pensord began to grow, Jones says. He

explains: “We were keen to spend a lot of

time with people, letting them know our

www.printmediamag.co.uk | August 2008 | 25

PrINT ● ● ● PENSOrD

Members of the Pensord team celebrate achieving its Investor in People status

objectives. In that way we can ensure we

deliver high levels of service and optimise

our efficiency rather than wasting time

complaining about price, which is a market

condition we can’t change.

“We have always been strong

in customer service and have many

long-standing, loyal customers. As a

stable and progressive independent

company, we take a long term view and

customers appreciate the security and

continuity of relationships which arise

from this. Customer retention is high, so

we must be doing something right.”

Due to his background in marketing,

Jones says that he does not tend to talk

to customers about print, but instead talks

to them strategically about their business.

Another way Pensord seeks to understand

the needs of its customers is by being

a long-term supporter of the Periodical

Publishers Association (PPA) as well as

becoming the inaugural strategic sponsor

of the Independent Publishers Advisory

Council (IPAC).

It is due to its understanding of

customers’ needs that Pensord began

offering digital editions to its customers

earlier this year. Jones says: “Other printing

companies may shy away from digital

editions, thinking that it will take business

away from them, but our aim is to serve

publishers’ needs and we see these

services as complementary to the

printed product.”

Working with YUDU Media, Pensord

offers digital versions of publications, from

simple page turners through to hyperlinks

and audio and video content embedded

within the pages. It can also provide

publishers with tracking technology,

enabling them to obtain statistics about

user activity.

Implementing digital editions is part of

Jones’ plans for Pensord’s future growth.

He says: “We are looking to extend our

publisher offerings through providing

added value beyond our printing services.

Digital editions are one example of this

and personalisation is another area we are

watching with interest.

“During the next five years our

turnover will continue to grow and it is

likely that non-print services will contribute

significantly to this. Acquisitions may also

be a possibility, but that depends on the

right opportunity coming along.”

Pensord may be anticipating a bright

future now, but one could think that not

every moment over the last five years was

so enjoyable. However, Jones says he

enjoys a challenge.

He explains: “Personally, life got easier

for me after the MBO, even though there

was a lot of risk in the early stages. The

most frustrating thing for me is that things

never happen quickly enough, but as we

have achieved all we set out to over the

past five years I can’t complain.

“The most difficult time throughout

my career was actually the three years

before the MBO, as I wanted to grow

the company but wasn’t afforded the

investment to do so.”

Jones has certainly managed to grow

the company now, and the reason for this

success, he says, is simply sticking to what

Pensord is good at.

“Instead of just taking any work, we

have a clear ‘best product’ policy and have

all our equipment geared towards work

of a magazine type format. This allows us

to be more competitive, with a lower error

rate and happy staff and customers as

everyone is doing what they are good at,”

he explains.

When asked which achievement he

is most proud of, it is to the company’s

people that Jones turns his mind. He

says: “The change in culture is what I

am proud of, winning the hearts and

minds of those involved with Pensord.

We have built a business of open and

honest communication. We have invested

in people, and are making good, steady

progress, but we are not complacent and I

will never say that we are fully there.”

The past five years has seen the

company grow beyond recognition, and

with Jones’ dedication to people and

relationships, Pensord will hope to see

many more years of this success.

• www.pensord.co.uk

Pensord.indd 2 15/8/08 16:00:51

FEATURE ADLINK

wwwPredicting the future of online advertisingOnline advertising’s upcoming issues and trends are the topic of conversation between the CEO and UK MD of digital marketing company AdLink, and Brand Management’s Laura Blows.

Chatting away in a bustling hotel restaurant in London’s

Soho district, Stéphane Cordier, CEO of digital market-

ing solutions provider AdLink may not seem like your

standard clairvoyant.

But having worked in the world of online media for 10 years,

he is well placed to predict the key developments in the online

advertising world.

“More and more big name advertisers are shifting their

international campaigns from TV to the internet. They are

taking advantage of the various online marketing channels,

along with emotionally appealing and personalised advertising

formats, to actively involve target demographics in their brand

environments.”

The question is, where will this trend lead?

German-based company AdLink Group is formed of fi ve different

segments: display advertising, affi liate marketing, online direct

and one-to-one communications, domain marketing, and email

advertising.

Its clients include Renault, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Zurich,

Vodafone, Virgin and Orange.

Last summer, the fi rm changed from having managing directors

for each of the segments in each country to one overall managing

director per country.

Cordier explains the benefi ts of this: “The type of online

advertising required depends on the needs of the product being

advertised, for example whether it requires brand awareness

or increasing sales. With this new system we can now change

the types of media being used while a campaign is still running

without hassle.”

By consolidating the different aspects of the company, AdLink

is mirroring a trend throughout the online industry. There has

been a series of big acquisitions, such as search engine giant

Google buying web advertising network DoubleClick for $3 billion

in April 2007.

Cordier says: “Consolidation is a good thing, as it will

professionalise the industry, raise standards and making it easier

for people to buy online.”

He compares the current online situation with the 1970s debates

about the relative marketing merits of TV and radio advertising.

Cordier explains: “Most brand managers now understand the

individual online marketing segments but there are not 50 years

of track records showing how to combine these, so it is still an

area of discovery.”

Some industries have explored online marketing very effectively,

Cordier says; notably the motor, mobile, travel, hi-tech and fi nance

sectors.

But that group does not include fast-moving consumer goods.

Cordier points out that as people are increasingly shopping online,

the FMCG sector is going to have to rise to the challenge and deliver

more and better online marketing – and once it does that online

marketing will “explode”.

Online may be due to explode in the near future but it is already

at a healthy size in Europe. Cordier quotes the Internet Advertising

Revenue Report 2007, conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau

and PricewaterhouseCoopers, which revealed that in 2006 western

European online advertising was a €7.9 billion market, with the

UK accounting for €3.1 billion of this, followed by Germany and

France.

It also found that the UK, Germany, France and Netherlands

have an almost equal percentage of online advertising share of

between 9 and 13 per cent, with Netherlands having the highest

amount, followed by the UK. In contrast, Italy and Spain only

account for around 4 per cent of online ad share.

Cordier is not surprised to fi nd that the UK is a key player in

the online advertising market. As an Englishman living in Paris,

he has noticed that the UK is nine to 15 months ahead of mainland

Europe in terms of adopting new online technologies.

Nicky Lapino, UK MD for AdLink, adds that while the UK

may adopt new technology more readily, it is not the country

Nicky Lapino – managing director AdLink Group UK

58 | January/February 2008 | brand management

Nicky Lapino joined the AdLink Group in 2005 when she was tasked with launching its affi linet affi liate marketing business in the UK. In July 2007 she was appointed UK MD of the entire UK AdLink Group business.

Lapino was previously MD of affi liate company Commission Junction, where she launched the company in the UK before moving on to become COO of online advertising company dgm.

Adlink.indd 2 28/1/08 15:07:35

brand management | January/February 2008 | 59

FEATURE ADLINK

Stéphane Cordier – chief executive offi cer AdLink Group

Stéphane Cordier has been CEO of AdLink Group since 2002 and since his appointment, Cordier has enhanced AdLink Group’s portfolio into a full-service provider of turnkey solutions for permission marketing, performance-based marketing and brand marketing.

Before joining AdLink Group’s executive management team, Cordier was vice president of European Media at DoubleClick Inc.

wwwwwwwwwwww wwwwww

wwwPredicting the future of online advertising

developing the technology itself. That accolade goes to the USA

and Scandanavia.

But she adds that the UK is more used to buying without seeing

the goods fi rst-hand. Cordier says: “In Europe, the further south

you go the more people want to touch and smell what they are

buying and walk away with it instantly. But in the UK catalogue

shopping has been popular for a long time, meaning people have

accepted ecommerce more readily.”

Despite regional differences, Cordier says that the overall

amount of online marketing in Europe is expected to double in

the next fi ve years, according to independent consultants Forrester

Research, from €7.9 billion to €16 billion and by 2012 online

marketing will represent 18 per cent of total media budgets.

This increase in online advertising is being driven by a number

of trends. For instance, Forrester predicts that the number of

European consumers with home broadband access will rise from

47 million to 83 million in fi ve years.

Cordier also predicts that there will be a budget shift from TV

to the internet. He says that a study by the European Interactive

Advertising Association found that time spent online now accounts

for 20 per cent of European media consumption, with TV suffering

the most from this. He also feels that online adverts will become less

generic, and will instead become more emotional and personalised

in their targeting.

One area that Cordier feels will make a massive impact is

mobile internet, with online marketing research company emarketer

predicting that the number of mobile internet users worldwide

will reach 982 million by 2011.

He says that the number of people accessing the internet on their

mobile phone will grow rapidly due to increased broadband access

and fl at rates, and from the increased popularity of communities,

multiplayer mobile games, user generated content and location-

based services.

From this, Cordier says that mobile advertising spend has

been estimated to increase by 1,000%, from $1.4 billion in 2007 to

$14.4 billion in 2011, accounting for a fi fth of internet advertising

global spending.

Cordier adds that mobile still has some barriers to overcome,

such as advertisers investing in mobile-compatible web sites.

He says that another issue is that at the moment mobile phones

cannot display a barcode that a shop till can read, meaning that

advertisers can currently send users money off vouchers to their

phone, but without a barcode it is impossible to track who is

using the voucher, how much they spent and what products they

bought.

But whatever the precise issues, Cordier, Lapino and their

colleagues at AdLink know that with internet advertising in all

forms evolving fast, the future should be very rosy indeed.

With 17 offi ces in 12 European countries and the USA, AdLink Group features fi ve specialist divisions. These are:

■ AdLink MediaDisplay marketing specialist that reaches more than 86m internet users, or one in two internet users in Europe.

■ affi linetaffi linet provides online advertisers with an affi liate digital distribution channel. affi linet has over 1,500 affi liate programs and 400,000 websites registered throughout Europe.

■ net:dialogsnet:dialogs is the specialist for online direct and one-to-

one marketing. It provides consulting, conception, creative execution, campaign implementation and campaign optimisation.

■ SedoSedo is the domain marketing specialist with more than 8.8m domains available for sale. Sedo offers domain parking, domain name appraisals, domain name transfer and domain brokerage.

■ compositecomposite offers email marketing. As a supplier of permission marketing, composite hosts over 15m email addresses in six countries and, through its brokering network, has access to 50m records worldwide.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwWith 17 offi ces in 12 European countries and the USA, With 17 offi ces in 12 European countries and the USA, With 17 offi ces in 12 European countries and the USA, wwwWith 17 offi ces in 12 European countries and the USA, wwwAdLink Group features fi ve specialist divisions. These are:AdLink Group features fi ve specialist divisions. These are:AdLink Group features fi ve specialist divisions. These are:wwwAdLink Group features fi ve specialist divisions. These are:www■ AdLink MediaAdLink MediaDisplay marketing specialist that reaches more than 86m Display marketing specialist that reaches more than 86m

wwwDisplay marketing specialist that reaches more than 86m

wwwinternet users, or one in two internet users in Europe. internet users, or one in two internet users in Europe.

■ affi linetaffi linet provides online advertisers with an affi liate digital

one marketing. It provides consulting, conception, creative wwwone marketing. It provides consulting, conception, creative wwwwwwexecution, campaign implementation and campaign wwwwwwoptimisation. www■

www■

wwwSedo

wwwSedo

wwwSedo is the domain marketing specialist with more than 8.8m domains available for sale. Sedo offers domain parking, domain name appraisals, domain name transfer and domain brokerage.

AdLink Group

Adlink.indd 3 28/1/08 15:07:39

years ago. The day began with Horsfield

and his creative director travelling to RR

Donnelly’s old site in Krakow to press

pass the catalogue.

It was on press at 6am on a Sunday

morning and it quickly became apparent

that what was coming off the press bore

no resemblance to the proofs. “It took

five hours to get the print anywhere near

the proofs, and even then it still wasn’t

right,” Horsfield says.

While there, both Horsfield and the

creative director were taken around

RR Donnelly’s new plant, featuring five

24pp Heidelbergs running alongside two

perfect binding lines and three stitching

lines.

Finding out that Mamas & Papas

had not been able to take advantage of

this site as the catalogue was too large,

Horsfield promptly requested a quote

for a smaller sized catalogue without its

laminate finish. The result was a saving

of £50,000 each time on the catalogues

produced twice a year.

Horsfield’s expertise at producing

high-quality print is the result of years of

Nick Horsfield, print manager at designer nursery store Mamas & Papas, explains to Laura Blows how he transformed the company’s catalogues into high-quality printed products, using in-house proofing, colour management and high-definition cameras.

experience in the industry. He began his

career working as a graphic designer for

seven years, before becoming a trainer at

print shops.

He then acquired experience in sales

roles for first a repro company then a

digital print organisation. It was at this

time that Horsfield saw the job ad for

Mamas & Papas. Following an interview

where Horsfield explained how various

printed products did and did not work,

the job was his.

The first catalogue Horsfield worked

on for Mamas & Papas featured “block

blacks and had no detail”. Realising that

this needed to change, upon his return

from Poland Horsfield began looking at

how to manage colour internally, as the

company was using an external repro

company that was not calibrated to the

Krakow site.

Soon two Epson 4000 proofers,

calibrated to RR Donnelly’s Polish site,

were placed at Mamas & Papas HQ in

Huddersfield.

With an array of Mamas &

Papas brochures from over

the years spread over the

table, Nick Horsfield’s mild-mannered

tone hides his underlying passion for

quality printing.

He picks two brochures, identical

at first sight, and uses a magnifying

glass to compare the differences. It soon

becomes apparent that for Horsfield,

good is simply not good enough.

Explaining his attitude to quality,

Horsfield says: “With our catalogues

the print quality could be fine to many

but we want to really show the detail. A

layman may not notice but that’s how

critical we are.”

It takes a sharp eye to notice the

difference between the two brochures,

but its thanks to Horsfield’s critical look

that Mamas & Papas’ bi-annual product

catalogue has been transformed from

an unremarkable product to a catalogue

that has many marvelling at how such

quality print has been achieved.

Mamas & Papas prints 205,000

copies of its twice-yearly product

catalogue, in four different versions;

one each for retail, wholesale, home

shopping and franchises.

The cover is sheetfed printed in the

UK by Taylor Bloxham, with the 288-page

text section and binding taking place at

RR Donnelly’s Krakow plant in Poland, on

Heidelberg 24pp web presses, as the job

has been specifically designed for that

press. The catalogue is printed on UPM

Finesse stock. This has been the case

for four years but Horsfield is currently

reviewing papers.

Horsfield’s skills were put to the

test from his very first day working for

Mamas & Papas, over three and a half

32 | April 2008 | www.printmediamag.co.uk

• Continued on page 58

INSIgHT ● ● ● INTERvIEW

The daddy of printNick Horsfield: on a

quest for quality with designer nursery store

Mamas & Papas

“With our catalogues the print quality could be fine to many but we want to really show the detail.” Nick Horsfield, Mamas & Papas

InsightInterviewApr08.indd 1 2/4/08 09:19:46

The daddy of print

58 | April 2008 | www.printmediamag.co.uk

• Continued from page 32

INSIgHT ● ● ● INTERvIEW

Since Mamas & Papas took proofing

in house, Horsfield says the company

has moved to “the next step of colour

evolution, closed loop colour”. This

involves adopting the ISO 12647-2 colour

standard, “which allows us to press pass

by number rather than by eye”, Horsfield

says. “Technically we no longer need to

press pass but we still like to do so for

artistic reasons.”

For Horsfield, once he had improved

the colour consistency, the following

stage was to increase the level of detail

within the printed images themselves. For

this, high-definition wide-back cameras

were used for the product catalogues.

“Now we are producing pinsharp

quality that is colour-correct,” says

Horsfield. “The photography features a

great deal more detail. For instance, a

normal camera phone has five million

pixels, but our cameras have 60 million

pixels.”

Looking into the benefits of

screening became another factor in

Horsfield’s improvement process. He

says: “Screening is particularly suitable

for catalogue production, it’s very good at

showing the subtle differences in clothes

and flesh tones.”

Mamas & Papas uses a mix of

stochastic and hybrid screens. The cover

was converted to a Staccato 10 screen,

with the text area produced on a Staccato

20 screen. For general print, a hybrid 350

screen is used.

For Horsfield, it is just as important

to “not cut corners” and concentrate

on the processes before printing as it

is to concentrate on the printing itself.

He explains: “It’s not a matter of simply

printing, but what happens beforehand

that is so important. That’s why it is more

and more key for me to get involved from

base one.”

The last 18 months have seen

Horsfield fine tune the supplier base.

“From a production and screening point

of view, Taylor Bloxham is our premium

printer, despite being a relatively new

addition,” he says. Price is always a factor

with printing, Horsfield admits, but Taylor

Bloxham is used due to its expertise in

screening.

For large format printing, the printing

firm Leach is used. “With printers a lot of

getting it right is in the relationships, we

can call up our printers for last minute

work as we have close relationships,”

Horsfield says.

This relationship led to both Leach

and Mamas & Papas working together to

produce a new process called STIK two

years ago. Using STIK for POS graphics,

magnetic window graphics are printed on

a vutek press. This eliminates the need

for a specialist installer to fit them, instead

they are easily placed onto the infill.

Previously the graphics cost £275

each, which featured an aluminium

frame with magnets placed around the

outer edge to which the graphics are

connected. Using vutex has reduced the

cost to £135 each. Eleven of Mamas &

Papas newest sites use STIK, with the

rest being converted gradually as they get

redecorated.

On Horsfield’s suggestion, the

graphics for Mamas & Papas’ POS work is

now produced in-house, as over £100,000

used to be spent on external companies

producing the work for the company’s 30

sites.

This has saved the company money,

Horsfield says, but even more so it has

resulted in faster reaction times. All the

POS work is sent out on a Thursday, and

Mamas & Papas is producing around

250,000 pieces a year, “not a lot for a

commercial printer, but a lot for Mamas &

Papas”, says Horsfield.

Heading up “a team of one – me”

Horsfield works closely with many

departments at Mamas & Papas HQ.

While Horsfield’s responsibility is the

catalogue, he helps and offers advice

to those on the creative team and the

marketing directors.

The changes to Mamas & Papas’

printed work have been a gradual, but

smooth process. “There has never been

a set path: as we face one issue it may

lead us down another direction to solve it,

that’s why flexibility is key,” Horsfield says.

This gradual change to Mamas &

Papas print has allowed Horsfield to

save money for the company since day

one, but he stresses the importance

of spending that bit more for a better

finished product.

He explains: “Cost has never been

questioned when it comes to improving

the quality of print. We are constantly

challenging our budgets. For example

a job may cost £17,000 but if we can

produce it better for £20,000 that’s fine,

as long as we know the cost implications

up front. We can also change the spec of

a job to stay closer to the budget, such as

moving from B1 to SRA1 to save money.”

Continuing this improvement process,

Horsfield is currently evaluating the

software programme CMYK Optimizer

that will produce calibrated PDFs, as well

as producing a look and feel guide as an

“internal bible”.

Horsfield is not one to rest on his

laurels, but he does feel ready to admit

now that “from a print production point of

view, I think we are nearly there”.

• www.mamasandpapas.co.uk

• Mamas&Papasformedin1981,afterDavidandLuisa

Scacchetti struggled to find a suitable pram for their first

child

• ThecompanybeganinHuddersfieldasawholesaler,

importing prams from Italy

• Therearenow31stores,sellingahostofnursery

equipment, toiletries, furniture, maternity and baby

clothes, with the 32nd shop opening soon in Nottingham

• Mamas&Papasgoodsareavailableinitsstores,

through wholesalers, home shopping and online

ordering

• In2006,thefirstinternationalfranchiseopenedinAbu

Dhabi. There are now stores in Dubai, Kuwait City and

Doha

• Mamas&Papasisexpectedtoachieveaturnoverof

approximately £130 million for 2007/8

Mamas & Papas

Mamas & Papas’ catalogue is produced twice yearly

InsightInterviewApr08.indd 2 2/4/08 09:19:49

MAGAZINE ● ● ● PRODUCTION

40 | December 2008 | www.printmediamag.co.uk

Taking one for the teamThe PPA Magazine Production Person of the Year accolade was awarded to Ross Harman of Incisive Media for his focus on teamwork and standardisation. Laura Blows finds out how he incorporated these values into his, and his colleagues, work.

Ross Harman from Incisive Media

has lost his voice. A welcome

respite for the rest of his

colleagues, he jokes, but it isn’t enough to

stop the PPA’s latest Magazine Production

Person of the Year from expressing his

surprise at winning and the impact it has

had for production at his company.

He tells PMM: “Our whole production

team are excellent, and I can’t say I’m

particularly better than any of them so

winning the award was a nice surprise. A

lot of the time production is the ‘forgotten

team’, but the award has been in the

company newsletter so now the whole

company is more aware of the work we do.”

It is this focus on teamwork that

impressed the PPA Awards judges’ enough

to give the accolade to Harman, stating:

“Ross’ dedication and initiative in creating

and bettering internal systems for his

team is impressive. He deserves to be

commended by the industry at large.”

As the judges note, Harman

doesn’t just talk the talk with regards to

teamwork, but has taken decisive steps

to improve the way Incisive’s production

team works. Having originally joined in

2002 in a consultancy role, Harman is now

production executive on Incisive Media’s

Central Production Team, comprising of

16 staff.

His role is to handle the production

for three of Incisive Media’s titles; Post

Magazine, Cover and Professional Broking.

He describes his duties as “handling the

production sides of the magazines by

chasing clients, flatplanning, ensuring the

display and classified adverts are okay to

print, liaising with printers and producing

e-books of the magazines”.

These may be his responsibilities,

but Harman has gone beyond the call

of duty in order to make the production

department work in a standardised manner.

A key area of this has been bringing the

handling of classified adverts in-house.

Harman says: “We used to outsource

the handling of classified adverts to various

companies, but we brought it in-house

around two years ago. I wanted to ensure

that classified worked the same across the

board. Display advertisements are also in

house, and since classified came in-house,

we now have the scope to handle more

reprints internally. It’s all running smoothly,

but we still have repro companies for

backup in case any problems emerge.”

Another area ripe for standardisation

was flatplanning, as Harman explains:

“The flatplanning system was all over

the shop. Whenever I had to do some

cover for people who were off work I

would find everyone’s individual systems

and processes difficult to learn. It was

like an uphill battle. I’m trying to get

everyone onto the system I created so that

whenever we have to cover for someone

we can just get going with the work

without complications.”

As the magazines that Harman

handles are printed at Wyndeham Heron,

which uses Agfa’s Delano online file upload

and approval system, he was responsible

for integrating Wyndeham’s system into the

workflow. He explains: “Wyndeham Heron

came to us about three years ago with

Delano, and at the time we were a guinea

pig for it, helping Wyndeham trial and

understand the system. I’m pleased we got

involved with Delano, as it has really helped

us here a lot.”

Despite Harman’s dedication to

unify production, this was not initially

Incisive Media’s Ross Harman: “I wanted to ensure that classified

worked the same across the board.”

a career he had considered. “I wasn’t

really aware of production as I came

from a background in graphic design.

However, my design knowledge helped

with production, as understanding how

software applications work, such as

Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, has

helped me find solutions to production

problems. I also get to do some design

work for Incisive when needed,” he says.

Harman will also take on a new

role from January, managing a team to

bring online advertising management in

house, as well as monitoring and tracking

the adverts’ performance. While looking

forward to this promotion, for Harman the

biggest challenge will always be managing

different teams’ requirements. He says:

“It’s a juggling act; the sales team always

want more time but the printers have their

own requirements, so just getting that

understanding between teams is the most

difficult part of the job.”

It may be a challenge, but for Harman,

teamwork is also the best and most

important part of his job, as well as the

very reason he won his award. He says:

“The best thing about production is the

professional relationships that occur

between clients, the team and myself. If

you are in production but are not good at

building relationships you fall at the first

hurdle. If you’re good at that you’re doing

the job right.”

• www.incisivemedia.com

Ross_Harman.indd 1 11/12/08 14:14:42

IT’S SAID THAT THE GRASS IS always greener on the other side and Mark Crane, print manager for Alliance & Leicester, decided to find out just how green it is. During

his career he has moved from the supplier side of print over to the customer’s, and has never looked back.

He says: “Crossing over from supplier to customer has given value to Alliance & Leicester as I can offer an informed judge-ment. I have the technical knowledge to understand what can be done for what price.

“If you have only been on the buyer’s side throughout your career, it may be hard to understand the whole range of what is out there. Knowing how prices are broken down is vital for me as I know when it’s not right.”

Alliance and Leicester has over 250 branches in the UK, all of which require display advertising, point of sale and in-store promotional leaflets. Crane is responsible for producing the retail print for all of this, as well as direct marketing, door drops and inserts. Alliance & Leicester produces 600 million inserts and between 700 to 800 million individual printed items a year.

Crane heads a team of three print buy-ers, whose role includes the day-to-day management of the job to ensure it meets deadlines and liaising between all com-panies, “like a relationship manager”. He says the department is a close team, and that their motto is “a good product for a good price”.

The inhouse studio produces all work which is then tendered out to its preselected database, with a 24-hour turnaround on quotes.

These are then evaluated and awarded, sometimes with as little as little as two hours to spare. The studio is notified as to where the files are going. He adds that every piece of work is checked thoroughly, going through five departments to be signed off.

He adds that a print job can be turned around in as little as two days if needed: media inserts tend to be commissioned on a six-week cycle, with direct mail normally taking two weeks.

Alliance and Leicester has a database of around 20 suppliers from a number of sectors. Crane says: “This has allowed us to build good strategic relationships that add value. It also shows a commitment from us that as long as they continue to work to their usual standard, they can continue to expect work from us.”

Price is a major factor, but even more important is the quality of service, “deter-mining who is the best choice overall to do the job.”

As well as updating the supply data-base, Crane is currently working on the company’s CSR policy, ensuring that the report is adhered to. One part of the report

is about commitment to the community. For this, Crane says that he tries to ensure local printers are used, and all its print is produced within the UK.

Environmental issues are part of CSR. As well as implementing a recycling scheme, a carbon offsetting policy group has been formed, looking at various ways to reduce the amount of carbon its activi-ties produce. It has standardised on a part-recycled grade for this reason and to

promote uniform quality.Crane says: “I went through an

exercise of proving that recycled grades are just as attractive in terms of price and looks as virgin fibre.”

Standardising paper has provided Alliance & Leicester with the security of improved colour consistency, but Crane warns that colour will always be a problematic issue. To help combat this, he has taken a number of steps.

The key one is by issuing a number of colour branding sheets, such as silk and gloss versions, for a variety of print techniques. These sheets are sent

throughout the supply chain, making sure that everything, from artwork to finishing is created in a consistent manner.

Crane says: “The sheets have eliminated a number of colour errors that used to occur. I believe that if we set out standards from the word go then we will achieve consistency.”

While Crane accepts that the environ-mental standard ISO 14001 is currently a hot topic for printers, he says that he would still like to see widespread adoption of the colour standard ISO 12647. He says: “If your business is to put colour on paper then surely you should be using industry leading standards.”

Alliance & Leicester’s print manager, Mark Crane, explains to Laura Blows how having worked as both a print supplier and customer has helped improve the company’s printed products.

Crossing oversupply chain

Mark Crane’s experience in production helps in buying

SupplyChain.indd 1 14/1/08 14:56:02

In his role as head of publications at the Central Office of Information, Philip Brimley looks to inject quality, service and value for money into central government printed communications, writes Laura Blows.

with six suppliers (although this is set to

change); and a framework for typesetting

with five companies.

There is also a framework for design

work, with half of the COI’s creative work

being put through the framework, and

half of the design produced in-house.

For internal prepress checking either the

Adobe CS3 preflight software is used or

Markzware’s FlightCheck.

Brimley says: “In print everyone

seems to say they know someone

who can do it cheaper, but we

assess our suppliers on more than

just financial issues. We also look

at their CSR policies such as ISO

14001 accreditation, which is rising in

importance on the political agenda.”

He adds that his team constantly

evaluates the suppliers on the

frameworks, “visiting them at least

once a year to get a feel as to how

they work as a company. Having

a two-way talk with them gives us

confidence about how they work”.

For procuring paper and print, mini

tenders are often conducted by selecting

those companies most suitable for the job

at hand.

Brimley says: “This is so not to waste

suppliers’ time with tenders they are

unlikely to win. We want our suppliers

to be confident that we play fair and if

they receive a tender from us they have

a fair chance of winning it. We know we

are getting this right as the difference

between the quotes is quite tight.

“We also give our suppliers positive

feedback on a monthly basis, explaining

how many tenders they won, how many

were sent out to them, how many they

responded to and if they did not win the

tender, where they came on the list. We

pay within 30 days, so our suppliers know

that we provide them with a guaranteed

cash flow.”

The software used to manage the

tenders also ensures fair play, as Brimley

28 | June 2008 | www.printmediamag.co.uk

• Continued on page 66

InSIgHT ● ● ● InTeRvIeW

Careless print costs money

Having always been attracted to a

career in print, working for companies

such as Remploy, the employment

services provider for disabled people, and

HMSO (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office),

Brimley began working at COI 10 years

ago as an account manager.

Brimley took up the post of head of

publications procurement a year ago. He

heads up a procurement team of four,

although 22 project managers feed the

work into the procurement team.

He says that his role is to make

sure government legislation is adhered

to regarding procurement, including

european directives, “as we would be

breaking the law otherwise”.

Overseeing the juggling of central

government’s print buying requirements

with the procurement rules that

must be adhered to is no easy task,

but Brimley modestly describes his

overall strategy as “just making sure

the basics are done well so that the

rest gets organised a lot easier”.

A full range of printing services is

offered by the COI, including web offset

printing, envelopes, sheet-fed litho,

posters, binders in plastic and board and

printed plastic products.

To procure print, COI uses three

frameworks: one for printing, which has

76 companies; one for paper supply

If central government’s most

important aim is arguably to

improve the life of its citizens, then

the Central Office of Information (COI)

works at the heart of this aim, ensuring

that central government’s messages are

actually received by the public in the most

memorable, but cost effective way for

taxpayers money.

That ethos calls for strict

requirements when buying print says

Philip Brimley, head of publications for

the COI.

He explains: “The principles of our

procurement are that we do a good

spec that is sent to suppliers in plenty

of time so that the suppliers have a fair

amount of time to generate a quote,

and competition rules must always be in

place. We should also promote innovation,

and should encourage SMes to work

with us.”

Producing value for money, quality

work is certainly a major part of the COI

print department’s challenges. With 1,600

to 2,000 tenders produced annually and

2,500 tonnes of paper used, the COI

handles an annual print spend of £5

million, a paper spend of £4 million and

a typesetting spend of £1 million in its

procurement of central government print.

The COI was formed in 1946,

replacing the wartime Ministry of

Information. It works with central

government departments and quangos,

but not local authorities, to produce

information campaigns, whether they are

internal or for the public.

These central government

departments ask the COI to create many

different methods of communication,

from Tv advertising to DvDs and CDs.

The print aspect plays a major part in

this, with anything from business cards

to white/green paper reports or direct

marketing materials being produced. A

few notable examples of COI-produced

work are the Preparing for Emergencies

booklet and the recent London mayoral

election’s printed communications.

Philip Brimley: “Our vision is to make ourselves so good at what we do that people would have to be crazy not to use us.”

InsightInterview.indd 1 6/6/08 13:08:05

This booklet is available in Braille, large-print and audio versions. Visit www.londonelects.org.uk

or ring 0800 876 6444.This booklet is published by the Greater London Returning Officer

City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2AADesigned by Sherry www.sherrydesign.co.uk

Printed by Communisis PLC on minimum 50% recycled paper

April 2008

Careless print costs money

66 | June 2008 | www.printmediamag.co.uk

• Continued from page 28

InSIgHT ● ● ● InTeRvIeW

explains: “Once the COI has sent out

tenders to suppliers, the quotes returned

are ‘locked down’ by our tender software,

meaning that no one can see what the

quotes are before the tender has finished.

“This ensures that there can be no

allegations made of favouritism, as no one

can be accused of watching the tender

and calling up favoured companies

advising them to adjust their quote.

“At the end of the day we are

very much accountable to people and

administrators, so we have to be able to

justify our decisions.”

Proving that the COI operates in a

manner promoting competition is just

one issue facing Brimley and his print

procurement team. During his 10 years at

the COI Brimley has noticed turnaround

times of print procurement reduce

dramatically.

He explains: “Overnight turnaround

used to be rare when I started working

here. They are not the norm yet, but they

are becoming more common.”

The creative stage of a project has to

go through a longer process due to the

public sector nature of the work. The COI

has an information department which

advises the publication department on

which languages the project may need to

be translated into.

There is also a translation department

with 400 freelance translators and four

project managers, capable of translating

projects into 49 different languages.

Sometimes the project will also need to

be converted into a sign video for the

deaf and an audio tape for the blind.

This can include some more unusual

considerations. Brimley gives a recent

example of a project promoting fruit and

vegetables being sent out to schools.

“Along with the various translations, we

also had to change the images of the

fruit for different ethnic groups to images

of fruit that they may be more used to

eating,” he explains.

Having risen to the additional

challenges of public sector procurement,

and assuring that quality suppliers that

meet COI’s clients’ print needs are on

the framework, Brimley could be forgiven

for resting on his laurels and letting print

procurement simply tick along.

However, Brimley is not one

for such laissez faire attitudes,

and instead continuously plans

for both immediate and long-term

improvements to the print procurement

offering that the COI provides.

Obtaining colour consistency is

an issue Brimley is currently tackling.

“We have implemented a colour

management policy,” he explains,

“because we are constantly buying

print from different people within the

framework and we found that the

colour will sometimes look different.”

To overcome this, COI developed its

own colour profile guidelines earlier this

year for its suppliers to match. Brimley

says: “The benefits of this are already

beginning to show as less money is being

spent on wet proofs.”

The COI profile is also being rolled

out to its external design agencies,

with the COI’s in-house Macs colour

calibrated using eye-One Match software,

“helping our printers produce work that

is ISO 12647 compliant”. Internal proofing

is conducted using an epson 7600 printer

driven by gMg ColorProof o4.

While Brimley and his team may

have a wealth of experience in the print

procurement sector, they are open to

supplier suggestions for ways to improve

the print production process; in fact they

positively encourage it.

Brimley explains: “In the last three

months we have started implementing

our innovation scheme. On the specs

sent out we say that if a supplier can

think of a way we can do the job that will

increase the benefit to the client, they

will be guaranteed the job if their idea is

accepted.

“So if a supplier does not win

the tender based on price, but has a

successful innovation idea, they will

become the first choice supplier.” He adds

that he is currently working on promoting

this scheme to suppliers.

Updating the paper framework is

another project for the COI’s publications

department (see PMM May 2008).

Brimley plans for the updated paper

framework to host a wide range of

suppliers covering silk, matt, gloss and

uncoated grades in both sheets and reels.

Once the paper framework is updated,

work will begin on updating the print

supplier framework.

An e-tender site is currently used for

large eU framework and contract work,

but the print and paper tenders are not

conducted on the site, but instead are

faxed to suppliers.

Brimley is optimistic that both the

paper and typesetting framework will

move online to an e-procurement site this

year. However he admits that moving the

print framework online will prove to be a

more complex process compared to the

paper tender due the large number of

print suppliers.

By continuously finding ways

to further improve the publications

department, Brimley is confident that

the COI’s clients receive quality print,

good service and value for the taxpayers’

money.

He explains: “The central government

departments choose to use us for their

print requirements as we have the print

expertise they may not have and we can

provide them with value for money. Our

vision is to make ourselves so good at

what we do that people would have to be

crazy not to use us.”

• www.coi.gov.uk

The London mayoral election’s communications were just one of many central government’s print requirements procured by the COI

This booklet is available in Braille, large-print and audio versions. Visit www.londonelects.org.uk

or ring 0800 876 6444.This booklet is published by the Greater London Returning Officer

City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2AADesigned by Sherry www.sherrydesign.co.uk

Printed by Communisis PLC on minimum 50% recycled paper

April 2008

Discover more market sector articles at

printmediamag.co.uk/marketsector

InsightInterview.indd 2 6/6/08 13:08:17