Liverpool John Moores University

by Joe BillinghamDigital Printing, Fulfilment & Mailing, Lithographic Printing, Online Solutions, StoragePosted on Comments are Disabled

Liverpool John Moore University

Early in 2022 Belmont Press took part in a large and comprehensive print framework tendering opportunity for Liverpool John Moore’s University (LJMU). This incorporated a strong emphasis on supporting the environment and further complimenting the civic commitment held by LJMU which extends throughout its curriculum and supply chain. LJMU is committed to playing a leading role in finding sustainable solutions and adopts suppliers to their supply chain that can further support their aims. LJMU are in the top third of universities in the People and Plant League and are a member of the Universities Climate Network.

The tender process scoring scheme was led with non-price criteria accounting for 70% of the total tender score, allocating Management of the Contract at 45% and Social Value and Carbon Reduction at 25%. The print requirements were split into Lots incorporating flagship publications to wide format projects. The bids from Belmont Press were measured in accordance with the tender requirements and judged to offer the best solutions, instilling confidence that all projects would be delivered, mirroring the University's own ethos.

Social values

Our achieved score highlighted that as a print partner, Belmont Press would prove exceptionally responsive to meet the needs of the University, and consequently, Belmont Press were successful in winning the contracts on all three Lots for which they bid.

The attributes of Belmont Press as a green print partner culminated earlier this year with certification as a Carbon Neutral Printer. As part of the LJMU contracted supply chain, Belmont Press are able to provide data to assess the impact any product will have upon the environment in terms of CO2. This supports the objectives of LJMU’s policies to decrease their carbon footprint.

Social Value and Governance good practice is also embedded within the contract. Belmont Press recognise the importance of these elements which encompasses the support of our team members and wider community projects, underpinning the ethos of our business and our value as a print supplier.

Carbon neutral printer

One of the first projects under the new contracts for LJMU was for the print production and mailing of the Applicant Handbook. This consisted of 68 pages printed in five colours with an additional aqueous (water based) coater applied to the covers to prevent ink transfer and marking. The Handbook was PUR bound and prepared for mailing to prospective students.

A key element within the specification set by LJMU was the procurement of carbon balanced paper. This was achieved working with the World Land Trust - their Carbon Balanced programme supports action on climate change and biodiversity protection. With the paper purchased using this scheme the LJMU Applicant Handbook bears the World Land Trust Logo.

The reduction of waste and surplus packaging is a key aim within the contract.

What the client says

The Applicant Handbook was then mailed via the most cost effective route to market by our fulfilment team, using a perfect fit recyclable outer wrap. Our client from LJMU had this to say about their experience with the Belmont team: -

"Colour, brand consistency, quality and delivery are all equally important for our brand. All these elements were achieved and not comprimised, with some very challenging deliveryes met!

All products have been very well received. Belmont has a fantastic accommodating team- exceptional.

I would absolutely not hesitate to recommend them if you are look for competitive costs, quality without compromise and excellent delivery."

Heinz case study

by Joe BillinghamDigital Printing, Online SolutionsPosted on Comments are Disabled

HEINZ

Heinz are a household name, with many of their tinned products and sauces reaching legend status amongst British shoppers. In December 2020, Belmont were approached with the concept of producing personalised labels, so shoppers could buy well-known products such as Tomato Ketchup, Soup and Mayonnaise as a novelty gift for a loved one. The brief was for data to be extracted from the Heinz website, sent to Belmont for it to be merged with standing artwork, before personalised digital printing and kiss-cutting taking place. The labels are then delivered to Heinz chosen fulfilment partner to attach onto product and mailing direct to the client.

The project was a perfect fit for our Digital Print and Online Solutions teams!

Personalised printing

From an ease of fulfilment sense, it was vitally important that Heinz fulfilment partner was able to process orders in a particular sequence. For example, if one customer ordered 1 x Ketchup label along with 1 x Tomato Soup label then the fulfilment team wanted the labels to run consecutively so distribution could be consolidated.

Our Online Solutions team created an API to retrieve the data, cleanse it, check for profanities and sort it into a very specific order, before sending it to our Digital Print team for personalised printing. Once the labels were printed, we then utilised our laser-guided Veloblade machine, which kiss-cut the labels to size before being packed. Throughout the entire process, the order of the labels was maintained.

Quick turn around

Due to the nature of the product that Heinz are selling, it's important that their customers are not waiting around for their orders. Our reactive team are able to turn labels around within 24 - 48 hours from receipt of artwork. This has enable Heinz fulfilment partner to handle large volumes of requests during peak periods.

Since contract commencement in December 2020, our team has processed tens of thousands of personlised printed labels, delivered on time and on budget.

Northampton printers

Jodi Ellen Malpas

by Joe BillinghamDigital PrintingPosted on Comments are Disabled

Jodi Ellen Malpas

Jodi Ellen Malpas is a number 1 New York Times Bestselling Romance Author and Northants entrepreneur. She has written a portfolio of 19 novels in total and has commissioned a range of scented candles, gifts, signed books, art prints and greetings cards via her own website. In 2021 Jodi contacted Belmont Press, as her local Northampton printers, to collaborate on a 2022 printed calendar she planned on publishing. Jodi was pretty open minded on her initial brief.

She had just one initial stipulation: - the calendar must be a quality product to reflect her brand and the other items she makes available on her website.

Leading Northampton printers

It was important we understood client expectations right from the off, so the Belmont Digital Print team put together a couple of different concepts for Jodi to consider.

These were printed on the proposed board before being trimmed and wiro bound so the proof was an exact representation of the final job. After a couple of specification tweaks the artwork was approved for press. Jodi chose a high quality 350gsm coated board, to be used throughout.

We bound the finished calendar in house using black wire before wrapping, ready for onward distribution to Jodi's fan base.

Local partnership

The finished result showcases some great photography in print and achieved the high standard that Jodi was looking for, with her describing our collaboration as follows: -

"The team at Belmont were as passionate about my project as I was, offering advice, options and working efficiently to meet my goal. It was truly a pleasurable experience from design phase to the finished product, which surpassed my expectations."

We loved having the opportunity to work with a local Northampton girl come internationally renowned author and we hope to work together again in the future!

London 2012

by Joe BillinghamDigital Printing, Lithographic PrintingPosted on No Comments

London 2012

With over a decade having passed since London 2012, we look back fondly, and with pride, at the part we played in helping to deliver a successful Olympic Games. In 2010 Belmont Press took part in the formal tendering process to be awarded a place on the official print partners framework. After an in-depth review, we were successful in our bid to provide the games with a brochure printing service as well as event guides, ticketing guides, large format items and signage.

Midway through 2011 LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) started to produce literature in preparation for games commencement in June 2012. While the requirements started off at a slow pace, Belmont were quickly established as LOCOG's favoured 'go to' partner for the vast majority of their printing requirements.

 

Brochure printing

One of the largest and most important print projects that LOCOG required was the London 2012 Official Ticketing Guide. This A4 4-colour 64pp publication (plus 4pp cover) allowed the public to understand the ticketing process and order tickets via post. It was the first major visible publication of the Games, and over 2.6 million copies of the guides were printed and distributed all around the country.

Once we had printed the guide we quickly invested in a second HP Indigo digital press in preparation for the surge in requirements going in to 2012. The year kicked off with two more major projects: -

For every ticket bought at the Games, a spectator guide to the relevant sport was required. This A3 publication, folded to DL size, provided information about the event and venue. There were 63 variants, each one referring to a different Olympic or Paralympic sport.

Olympic legacy

Additionally, all tickets were to be delivered in a bespoke ticket wallet, totaling nearly 2 million copies, all of which were printed and finished in-house at Belmont Press. The ticket wallet was the first branded item that each spectator saw when receiving their tickets, so they needed to be of the highest quality.

During a 12 month peak period for London 2012, Belmont Press worked on over 650 different projects with LOCOG, many of which came with a 24 – 48 hour no fail deadline.

Our lithographic brochure printing and digital print offering to the Olympic Games was, along with the games itself, a huge success and remains a project that we are exceptionally proud to have been a part of.

Moonpig

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Moonpig

Online retailer Moonpig approached Belmont Press, initially to utilise our fast turn-around digital printing on demand facility for their Business Continuity Plan. This was to support their own internal printing facilities based in Guernsey and London, in the event that a disaster recovery option was required.

When the Moonpig business demands exceeded forecasts, we were subsequently asked to step in on a short term 12 month contract, to print all cards ordered online in conjunction with a gift.

IT expertise and printing on demand

The Service Level Agreement (SLA) stated that all orders for cards received prior to 4pm had to be printed, reconciled with the requested gift, mailed out and delivered the following day to Moonpig clients. We immediately teamed up with Northampton based gift fulfilment operator Dalepak in order to deliver the contract. Dalepak held all gifts in their warehouse, while the Belmont Press team were responsible for printing and delivering cards into Dalepak for reconciliation.

Our internal IT team developed a bespoke system that integrated within the Moonpig website. The system would recognise if a card was ordered with a gift and would then automatically send the card order to our digital printing on demand team.

Large digital print capacity

We also utilised our own fleet of delivery vehicles to deliver cards into Dalepak at regular intervals throughout the day.  This enabled the Dalepak team to keep up with the high demand at peak periods. Throughout the Christmas period the Belmont Press digital print department printed and delivered over 10,000 cards per day to Dalepak.  This level of service and large digital print capacity provided peace of mind to Moonpig that their clients were receiving continuity of service while they invested in the infrastructure to eventually bring the printing back in house.

Our project management team actioned a smooth transition management plan once Moonpig were ready to take ownership of the printing again.

Digital printing

The Open University

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End-to-end print on demand solution

Since The Open University (OU) launched in 1969, almost 1.8 million people worldwide have achieved their learning goals by studying with the University. In terms of student numbers, The Open University is the largest academic institution in the UK with more than 240,000 students and almost 7,000 tutors. Belmont Press has been working with the OU for over 20 years, regularly winning competitive tenders to print prospectuses and marketing material. So when the OU wanted to develop an entirely new digital printing service for its students, it approached Belmont Press.

A cost effective digital printing solution

The OU team said: “We were getting requests from some students for the option to buy printed copies of selected online study content, rather than them printing it out themselves at home. We needed to be able to offer the choice of a cost-effective solution that was both cheaper and better quality for students, rather than using a desktop printer. Working with Belmont Press, we launched a print on demand service on selected University study modules. Linked directly from the OU website students can order and pay for the printed materials, these are printed and despatched by Belmont Press within 24 hours. Belmont Press provided a complete seamless answer to a potentially complicated process.”

A bespoke solution

The print on demand solution for The Open University provides a website that looks and feels like the OU website. It also collects and manages individual payments delivering a reconciliation report each week and cost-effective study materials printed to a consistently high standard. The OU team concluded: "Belmont Press have always been very approachable, innovative and willing to look at new ideas. They delivered the whole package, listening to what we wanted and providing a tailored solution to meet our needs: everything from building the website, receiving the orders, processing the payment in a secure environment, to digital printing and despatch."

Print on demand

A-Z Maps

by Joe BillinghamDigital Printing, Fulfilment & Mailing, Lithographic Printing, Online SolutionsPosted on No Comments

A-Z Maps

The Geographers’ A to Z Map Company Limited is the largest independent map publishing company in the UK, producing iconic products such as the London A-Z and many award-winning maps. The business started in 1936 as The Geographers’ Map Company Limited and now produces over 320 mapping products in lithographic print as well as print on demand.

In common with many other book publishers, A to Z moved a proportion of its print to China some years ago. There were two main reasons for this; firstly, to reduce cost and secondly, due to the use of more durable sewn binding for the same cost as perfect binding. However, it has since moved this work back to the UK, with some being placed with Belmont Press. A to Z came across Belmont Press as both companies were suppliers to the London 2012 Olympic Games. A to Z then selected Belmont to produce some of its standard map books, which were litho printed and bound.

Certifications

Belmont Press had to meet strict criteria to supply to the London 2012 Olympic Games, and The Production Manager at A to Z was impressed by Belmont’s environmental and quality certifications.

He also examined the set-up and ethos of the business, commenting: We don’t like to change suppliers very often, so we try to be thorough and look at every aspect of supply. We’ve had our fingers burnt in the past and don’t choose purely on price, but quality and delivery as well.

“Belmont Press ticked all the boxes – the quality has been excellent and they are very competitively priced for the print that we need. They are also very nice people to deal with!”.

Print on demand

Aside from our lithographic work with A-Z, we have also helped develop an online ordering and digital printing service for its large format maps. With demand for some of their product lines having reduced, A-Z required a service that provided copies of their maps via a print on demand service. This helped reduce wastage and ensured A-Z's spend matched the revenue generated by customer orders.

Belmont's system is integrated within the A-Z website. It receives customer orders automatically, sends print on demand requests to our digital press and posts direct to A-Z's clients. The process is a seamless one and all publications are printed and despatched within three working days from order.

Direct mail

IDEXX Laboratories

by Joe BillinghamDigital Printing, Fulfilment & Mailing, Lithographic Printing, Online Solutions, StoragePosted on No Comments

IDEXX Laboratories

IDEXX laboratories are specialists in veterinary diagnostics, dairy and water testing. The busy UK marketing department relies on Belmont Press to print its range of marketing materials, from personalised direct mail to its 96-printed-page Directory of Products and Services. The UK Marketing Team at Idexx Laboratories commented: “With their range of presses from digital to 12-colour litho and HD, Belmont Press has the scale and flexibility to handle all of our printing requirements. They deliver a very professional service at a reasonable price and turn around work very quickly for us. They have never missed a deadline.”

Direct mail, print on demand, storage and distribution

As well as the company's direct mail requirements, Belmont Press also manages a storage, fulfilment and distribution operation on behalf of IDEXX Laboratories. The Marketing Team added: “We send over a spreadsheet with lots of requirements and multiple tabs and I know that Belmont Press will facilitate the distribution perfectly. I know that the right item will be delivered to the right person at the right time. They make the whole project very straightforward for us.”

Well established company

They continued: "I've dealt with Belmont Press for many years and it's a well-established company with a long history. It's always evolved to ensure that it has the right technology to meet the clients' needs. When I joined IDEXX Laboratories, I was fully aware of Belmont's quality and environmental systems, and this was another important factor in my decision to select them to print our marketing materials. They are a proactive, innovative print partner who always put their clients interests first"

Regents University

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Lithographic print

Regents University, London

Regent’s University London is a highly respected and internationally diverse independent university. Its focus is on professionalism, internationalism and the development of its students as global citizens, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. After a competitive tender process, Belmont Press was awarded the contract due to our high quality lithographic print, as well as other key factors: -

  • Proven experience within the Educational Sector.
  • The provision of a 1,500 pallet storage facility.
  • A focus on providing excellent customer service.

High quality lithographic print and customer service

Sarah Jackson, Publications Manager in the External Relations Department at Regent’s University London, said:

“I found Belmont’s sales person, Joe Billingham, really helpful and easy to get on with. He’s very responsive and will come in and discuss any print projects or queries that I have.”
“He’s very knowledgeable, as well as being supportive and seeing things from the customer’s point of view. He’s happy to make suggestions on how best to achieve what we need and nothing is too much trouble.”

Rebranding project

Belmont Press retained the contract after Regents gained University status. This involved a comprehensive rebrand, which we were delighted to be involved with. Following the rebrand, the university team had this to say about our services:

'The service we receive from Belmont Press is excellent and there have been no problems at all. The account management team are always adaptable, responding very well to last-minute changes. They are easy to work with, helpful and efficient and have always delivered on time. The quality of their digital, large format and lithographic print is second to none'