Foxprint Blog

It's Not Just About Trees Anymore

Mon, 10 Jan 2012 09:07:17

Its not just about trees anymore. Its about the whole carbon footprint. How efficient are the machines in their production processes, how toxic are the materials they use, how much waste is generated, and is that waste recycled?

Digital on-demand printing eliminates several stages of the set-up and changeover processes associated with offset printing that are not only time consuming but also inherently generate high levels of substrate waste. For example, a head-to-head comparison of a digital press with an offset press, found that in the case of a run of 500 impressions, the paper utilization efficiency of the digital press was 96%, versus only 26% for the offset press – a particularly significant figure given the industry trend towards shorter print runs.

And this is only one of the reasons that makes the Digital Process more sustainable approach to printing.

Foxprint invests in first DocuColour 800 Digital Press in UK

Fri, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00

Foxprint is pleased to announce the arrival and installation of a brand new DocuColour 800 Digital press.

This press is the latest generation of machine boasting 'EA' toner and patented technology offering superb full out solids previously impossible on almost all digital presses.

With the ability to duplex at rated speed on anything up to and including 400gsm Board, this machine brings some formidable fire power to customers who have a requirement for digital printing.

Having completed our initial tests, it is evident that this press prints infinitely sharper than any litho press can currently produce owing to it producing a true first generation dot.

In addition, on short run digital work, we produce approximately 60% less C02 than its very old adversary.....the litho press.

We have a range of bespoke products that are available now including Mouse Mats, Desk Pads, Ring Binders, Folders, Coasters and Rulers all of which can be produced digitally and in very low affordable volumes.

Give us a call today: 01509 505 413

Race for Life

Wed, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00

In support of the truly remarkable Cancer Research UK, Foxprint's very own Anne Mari and Alicia participated in this years Leicester Race for Life.

The ART team that we were a part of, headed up by Results Weight Loss and The Almanac has, at last count, raised over £2,300! A fabulous contribution to a truly worthy cause.

A very special day was had by all and there were some extremely moving moments and a lot of very inspiring stories...

As you can see, it was great fun too!!

To see the rest of the pictures head over to our Facebook page.

LCB Depot in Leicester Hot Desk

Sat, 06 May 2011 00:00:00

I am pleased to announce I will soon be utilizing my hot desk @ LCB Leicester...more details to follow, very excited!

Foxprint invests in Google 'Cloud' email and Google Docs

Thu, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00

Foxprint has invested in Google's cloud email and Google Docs.

Email has become an essential means of communication for any business and with the benefits of having this stored in a 'cloud' this adds a disaster contingency never previously available.

Archiving and retrieval of emails is simple and with a 25GB mailbox per user, this is approaching 10 times the size of a typical 'Exchange' mailbox.

Added to this is seamless integration of mail onto Android and iPhones.

This solution will enable us to better serve all of our clients and ensure that should the unthinkable ever happen, we will have not lost any data!

Alicia Porter joins Foxprint

Wed, 15 Mar 2011 00:00:00

Foxprint is delighted to announce that Alicia Porter has joined us as a New Business Development Manager.

With a wealth of experience within design and advertising, Alicia is keen to win new clients and business, particularly with our FSC and other environmental credentials.

Predominately based in Leicester, Alicia will be using her extensive contacts and knowledge to raise our profile as a company.

We wish her every success in her new role!

Increased volume of FSC related quotes

Sat, 04 Mar 2011 14:42:42

As a member of a FSC chain of custody scheme, Foxprint has seen an increased demand from companies wanting to show their clients their environmental credentials by coming to Foxprint for quotations and ultimately allowing us to produce their project.

Foxprint is able to produce projects with the FSC Mixed sources logo for clients.

In particular, several holiday companies have taken advantage of this since the beginning of 2011.

Paper price rises confirmed for March of 8 - 12%

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00

Sappi Fine Paper Europe will increase the price of coated fine papers by a minimum of 8% as of 1 March for non-contractual business and 1 April for contractual business.

It will also increase the price of its uncoated fine papers by 5-8% in March for the entire business.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "Sappi needs to make these prices increases in order to cope with the continuously rising input costs.

"The new price hikes, particularly in energy, wood and starch, have confronted us with a situation of declining profit margins."

M-real will increase the price of its uncoated fine paper by between 6-8% as of 14 March.

Simon Guffogg, marketing director at M-real, said the business was facing "significant increases in chemicals, energy and wood prices", which he said were unsustainable.

He added: "We have to do something about it. We have little choice but to try to recover these increases. It’s all about the margins. It’s rather grim."

Lauri Peltola, head of corporate communications at Stora Enso, said negotiations at the company were still ongoing.
Rival paper manufacturer UPM declined to comment.

Foxprint passes 2,500 online sales orders mark

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00

Foxprint is pleased to announce that since we integrated our online ordering system for our clients back in December 2006, we have passed the landmark of 2500 online orders since this date.

Customers are able to produce business cards dynamically and order many other products relevant to their company including calling off stock held here on their behalf.

Foxprint invests in new CCM 78 Guillotine

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:42:42

2nd February 2011

Foxprint are pleased to announce the arrival of a new CCM 78 Guillotine from Terry Cooper Services.

Financed by Mark Nelson at Compass Business Finance, the whole removal and delivery was arranged in less than a week.

This replaces the much older CCM 92 which had been at Foxprint since early 2004.

The new machine has a much smaller footprint and will require less maintenance than the previous model.

With this new addition and laminating, perfing and scoring all under one roof, this ensures 80% of all finishing can be completed inhouse.

Foxprint will be open over the Christmas break!

Sat, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00

We will be open on Wednesday 29th Dec, Thursday 30th Dec and Friday 31st Dec for any of the last minute jobs you may need for the New Year.

Don't forget also any stationary items such as business cards or letterheads will also attract VAT at the higher rate in the new year.

Foxprint Rebrands!

Sun, 19 Nov 2010 13:49:10

Foxprint is pleased to announce the launch of it's new website coupled with a rebrand of the company's logo along with a new stunning company brochure.

Foxprint Exhibit at the Energy and Environment 2009!

Sat, 18 Nov 2010 15:00:01

Foxprint were proud to exhibit at the Energy and Environment 2009 exhibition at Westminster, London.

The Exhibition was to provide people with a unique insight into the state of readiness in the UK for securing our low carbon economy and our progress to date in tackling the climate change agenda.

Amongst the 50 companies that exhibited, Foxprint were the only printing company that were demonstrating their green credentials. Our aim was to share the many steps we have taken to ensure that we are as green as possible, whilst keeping our very high standard of printing.

The exhibition gave us the opportunity to meet people from various businesses and organisations and educate them on our process less system, vegetable based inks and stochastic screening.

The exhibition proved to be a great success and has helped to raise Foxprint's profile with people looking for a more green printing company.

Foxprint Reduces Alcohol Consumption used in Printing Process

Fri, 11 Feb 2009 10:20:43

As part of our ongoing commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and an overall reduction in VOC's, we have now through a process of continuous improvement, been able to reduce the dosage of alcohol usage to 5%.

Typically, the majority of printing companies will run with 10% alcohol dosage, thereby producing double the amount of VOC's during the printing process.

Foxprint secures Continued Investors in People Accreditation

Sun, 06 Feb 2009 10:18:50

Foxprint is delighted to announce that having recently been assessed, EMQC were pleased with the continued development and progression of staff with very clear performance measures and controls in place.

The overall opinion of EMQC was that owing to the considerable changes made within the business during the last 3 years, Foxprint was increasingly better positioned to ride out the current recession.

Foxprint has Successfully Printed 5 Special Colours on Static Cling

Fri, 22 Dec 2008 10:16:33

Another major challenge in the same month?

Another enquiry from Google Adwords.

Exactly that.

Normally a confine of silk screen printing, this statically charged stock needs specialist inks and by its very nature, is fairly flimsy, enough for most printing companies to decline to quote.

At a cost of �1.00 per A2 sheet, this is probably the most expensive stock we have ever been asked to print on.

Producing 34,000 printed, die cut beer glass shapes for a well known drinks manufacturer was a massive challenge.

Suffice to say, we met the customers deadlines and learnt something new!

Foxprint Secures Business of �15,000 from one Google Adwords Enquiry

Tue, 05 Dec 2008 10:13:43

As part of our desire to grow our business, our google adwords campaign has delivered an enquiry with an invoice value of �15,000.

Managing Director Gavin Wells, commented "I am delighted with the return on investment we are seeing from all of the optimisation we have done with our new website and for one enquiry to generate this much business speaks volumes as to what we can deliver to other companies seeking to compete on the web".

Environmentally Friendly inverter Air Conditioning Installed in our Pressroom

Fri, 03 Nov 2008 10:12:11

Foxprint is delighted to announce the installation of a new �5,000 air conditioning system in our pressroom.

Costing as little as 12 pence per hour to run, this has many benefits in respect of the amount of energy used but also has huge benefits in respect of being able to control relative humidity.

It also allows presses and all of their ancillary components to use less energy whilst running, especially in the summer months.

New Digital Press!

Sat, 05 Aug 2008 10:09:48

Foxprint is pleased to announce the purchase of a new digital press which boasts stunning quality.

Having been involved with digital print as a company since 1999, we believe we have found the perfect digital press for us.

With polymerised organic toner particles, digital print has never looked so punchy and vibrant, with perfectly smooth solids and tints.

Added to this, our new machine uses no fuser oil in the process, so gone is the possibility of streaks or smears sometimes associated with digital presses.

Capable of printing on a range of stocks from 80gsm up to 400gsm board and adhesive too, this will extend the range we offer our clients.

coupled with this, is the latest generation software for variable data and personalisation, enabling us to personalise any document, both in terms of imagery and text.

Foxprint now use Spekta Screening for High End Printing Quality

Fri, 23 Jun 2008 09:58:59

Spekta is the solution to high-end print quality using standard-level equipment. It achieves the fine pattern reproduction of FM screening, combined with the consistent results of AM screening.

Spekta combines the strengths of both AM and FM screening methods. Not only does it overcome moir� and broken lines, it delivers print quality and detail comparable to that afforded by screen rulings of 400 LPI and achieves this without requiring any of the stringent print controls normally associated with high screen rulings.

The benefits of Spekta:

With spekta, the quality that can be achieved with an ordinary setup of 175 LPI and 2,400 DPI will appear equal to that of 400 LPI printing. Spekta can achieve this without the stringent controls usually required for high LPI printing. Higher quality print is achieved with the same printing equipment.

In the 1-10% highlights and the 90-99% shadows, spekta uses FM screenings' fixed dot size and reproduces tone by varying the density of these uniform dots. In the 10-90% midtones, it varies the size of the dots just as AM screening does.

The placement of dots is always random with spekta, as in FM screening, which means there are no screen angles to contend with. As a result, spekta avoids the moir� resulting from interference patterns between screen angles and items such as lace cloth, stereo speaker mesh and CRT screenshots. It also eliminates the rosette moir� that can occur in dark grey or black areas.

Spekta does a better job of bringing out the vibrancy in the midtones for skin colours and other areas where true-to-life colour is required. Photo images of fresh flowers and fruit, sumptuous meals and desserts it is easier that ever to reproduce the full appeal of these in print with spekta.

Spekta demonstrates its superiority in reproducing fine details, such as those required in maps. It improved the rendition of lines that are created with halftones. Because 175 LPI AM screening tends to leave light-coloured fine lines jagged and broken, printers must often resort to using spot colours to reproduce them. However, spekta can reproduce these kinds of images sharply using only process colours. Details such as fine hair and delicate lace are also rendered precisely, without jagged edges.

Foxprint are now Members of a Certified FSC Group Chain of Custody Scheme

Mon, 05 Jun 2008 11:16:20

In June 2008 Foxprint became successful in gaining membership of a certified FSC Group Chain of Custody Scheme (CU-COC-807273).

Chain of custody certification provides independent evidence that forest products originate from well-managed forests. By obtaining COC certification Foxprint can demonstrate its commitment economically, environmentally and socially responsible forestry.

What is the FSC?

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world's forests. FSC is the first worldwide certification system established for forests and forest products. This voluntary market driven mechanism can be regarded as one of the most important initiatives of the last decade to promote better forest management.

Forest management according to FSC's internationally recognized standards delivers environmental services to local and global communities, including clean air and water, and contributes to mitigating impacts of climate change. FSC directly or indirectly addresses issues such as illegal logging, deforestation and global warming and has positive impacts on economic development, environmental conservation, poverty alleviation and social and political empowerment.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody is an internationally recognised system of forest certification and product labelling that aids consumers to identify wood and wood-based products from well-managed forests. It is recognised throughout the world with over 4,021 certified organisations across 72 countries and supported by WWF, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Woodland Trust.

What does this mean for Foxprint customers?

Our customers can now choose paper that provides assurance of social and environmental responsibility. 80% of our paper will be FSC certified. The FSC system requires that the material is tracked from the certified source through the COC.

This means that Foxprint will be able to make a claim on paper used as certified and print the fsc label on our customer's final printed product.

Foxprint will have an annual audit to ensure that all the FSC procedures are being followed and no contamination has taken place.

Foxprint will now be running Stochastic Screening

Mon, 03 Jan 2008 09:57:11

Foxprint is delighted to announce that we will be running Stochastic Screening on all our clients work.

Often referred to as 'fine art' printing owing to the 400 line screen resolution, the benefits can be seen with the naked eye.

With microscopic amounts of ink applied, highlight shadow and midtones hold significantly more detail than previously possible.

New Chemical Free Computer to Plate System

Fri, 01 Dec 2007 08:41:05

Foxprint is delighted to announce the installation of a new chemical free computer to plate system.

This will remove the need for any chemicals in the production and processing of printing plates, resulting in an eradication of 6500 litres of chemistry per year.

Moreover, Foxprint's water consumption, has dropped to below that of an average domestic household along with a reduction of 25,000 KW per annum in electricity to run the processor.

This is a major step in Foxprint's ambition to become one of the UK's most environmentally friendly printers.