The Open University

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.

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.”

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."