Bridson & Horrox take on female apprentice.

Bridson & Horrox is one of the Isle of Man's longest established companies with an unsurpassed reputation as the Isle of Man's premier supplier of total printing solutions and office supply services.

Bridson & Horrox is the only printing firm on the Isle of Man to employ female apprentice printers.

Bridson & Horrox have recently taken on three new apprentices. Michelle Harrison has joined the company as an apprentice printer. Simon Reed and Andrew Whittaker have joined as apprentices in print finishing. New apprentices are taken on every year by Bridson & Horrox. Bridson & Horrox, the leading print provider and office supply services on the Isle of Man, have recently been reaccredited with the Investors in People award and are the only printing firm on the Isle of Man to employ female apprentice printers.

Bridson & Horrox work with the Isle of Man Government Training Centre and in conjunction with the British Printing Industries Federation, to encourage all staff to undergo a Level II NVQ, irrespective of their age or experience. The Level II NVQ will enable continuous development of the new apprentices and will provide a more professional service to customers.

The print industry has certainly come along way since Darren Horrox's grandfather

co-founded a print company, a company that's still going strong today. Nearly 80 years ago, Harry Horrox and Marshal Bridson started up the Isle of Man business that, at the time, focused on providing print for the travel industry.

"My grandfather co-founded the company in 1933 and for a while he worked as a printer in the winter, while running a boarding house in the summer," explains Horrox, who is managing director of Bridson and Horrox.

Such an approach is unheard of today thanks to tighter deadlines and ever more demanding clients. And the company has widened its reach, not just producing work for the travel sector, but also a raft of blue chip companies, many of whom are in the financial sector.

"We are in essence a jobbing printer," he says. "But we also print to a good blue chip client base and work to very high standards."

It's with those customers in mind that Bridson and Horrox has made inroads into picking up a whole host of accreditations needed to impress the most demanding of financial institutions. Having gained environmental and management certifications, the next target is colour: the company is aiming for ISO 12647 with an eye on winning new business and saving time, waste and money. It's already spent a considerable sum getting the latest pressroom equipment.

While the company's heritage dates back to the 1930s, it's the 1970s that cast the die for the success story it is today. Horrox's father was at the helm and decided that it was worth pursuing a new strategy - to provide high-quality print for the financial sector, which had a big presence on the island. Over time, Bridson and Horrox picked up business from the burgeoning industry, convincing companies that there was no need to look to the mainland for print.

Client retention

The strategy paid off. Today the firm has a turnover of £5.5m and a workforce of 49. It's broadened its horizons considerably with a signage division as well as a furniture business. On the commercial print side, Horrox says the company successfully convinced blue chip companies to have work produced locally. However, to retain them, it needs to keep up with the times and show that it has the relevant accreditations that many firms are now demanding. In recent years Bridson and Horrox has been attaining the latest standards and with ISO 9001 and 14001 in the bag, the next focus is colour standard 12647. As Horrox admits, this isn't the easiest to get.

With 14001, for example, there's a clear set of quick wins that a company can implement, but going for the colour accreditation isn't so straightforward - it means investing in kit and adopting a more specialized approach.

"We're aiming to work to a standard that says that the colour on the page is right"

Darren Horrox

In 2007, the company replaced two Heidelberg presses, a CD74 and a SM74, with a Manroland 500. The swap was part of an investment that included new pre-press and finishing kit. "We looked at other presses on the market and felt that this one could reduce costs," says Horrox. "It also gave us the opportunity to go down the ISO 14001 road. It's alcohol free and takes away one of the biggest problems."

In addition, the 500 came complete with Manroland's system for colour management, Color Pilot. This addition has handed the company the tools it needs to get to grips with colour; the early advantage, according to Horrox, is that it cuts the amount of time it takes to get the press up to colour, therefore reducing waste. But the drive towards 12647 has another advantage.

"It takes away the vagaries with the client," he adds. "We're aiming to work to a standard that says that the colour on the page is right. You can reduce the potential for a customer to complain. We haven't had complaints about our colour, but if you're working to a standard then it does close the loop."

The aim is to achieve 12647 by the third quarter of this year. Assisting Bridson and Horrox is the BPIF, which outlined at the start what printers and print management companies must do to secure the accreditation. The firm has opted for the BPIF's UKAS-accredited route and Horrox says that the approach better suited the company.

"We initially looked at going with Bodoni and did a week's course on their system," he recalls. "But the cost was significant. In addition, that meant we had to go down the Fogra route and that wasn't cheap. We decided to wait and as soon as the BPIF were in a position to help we contacted them. We were waiting for them to offer a UKAS standard." And with those early wins, such as a reduced waste and make-ready time, the company has benefited. But one of the other key reasons to push for 12647 has been the clients. Measuring the colour correctly and getting it spot on first time sends out positive signals to the big name blue chip clients Bridson and Horrox is targeting and already has on board. That said the company isn't marketing its colour capabilities just yet.

Upward aspirations

"Once we have the standard then we'll be blowing our trumpet about it," explains Horrox. "But at the moment we don't want to shout about something we haven't got."

The signs are that Bridson and Horrox will get the holy colour grail of ISO 12647 and once it does, the company will be the first printer on the Isle of Man to gain that accreditation. It's a sign of how ambitious the company is that in order to gain work from the public sector, it doesn't even need 12647.

"The Isle of Man government does not stipulate that a printer should have 12647 to win work," says Horrox. "We would be the only printer with this standard and it will give us an edge. We see ourselves as a quality printer."

That approach has helped win work both locally and from the mainland; blue chip clients from across the water have placed work with the Manx firm while Bridson and Horrox has also done well in the public sector. For example, it has won a contract to print ballot papers for Leeds City Council.

On top of that, the company has been able to cope with short-run personalised work thanks to the installation of an HP Indigo 5000 - a machine that Horrox says gives a very close quality to offset. In addition, the company has installed Xerox printers to produce work for the statement market.

All of the equipment installed is designed to adhere to Bridson and Horrox's stringent colour demands. And once it does gain the 12647 accreditation, the company will be able to move forward with even more confidence, safe in the knowledge that it can handle any colour issues from the most demanding of brands. With the latest technology in place to cope with this, it's a very different business to the one Harry Horrox helped to set up back in 1933.

Based in the Isle of Man, this company's directors became interested in the Colour Management Standard ISO 12647/2 almost as soon as details of its impending introduction were released in 2008.

They knew that the quality achieved through its pre-press, proofing and printing processes was good, given its skilled workforce and the fact that its equipment was relatively new. However, no procedures existed to allow an accurate measurement of performance against a colour quality standard such as ISO 12647/2.

Tommy Crowe, Director of Print Operation: "Many of our customers have critical colour requirements and would demand compliance with ISO 12647/2. This led us to contact the Business Division of the BPIF for advice. A Technical Consultant made a GAP analysis of all areas that involve colour production processes."

This analysis measured and recorded the company's performance in the sectors of pre-press, proofing and printing against the standards for ISO 12647/2. The Consultant's report set out a route map for ISO 12647/2 UKAS certification.

Fortunately, the existing equipment could achieve and maintain the new standard consistently with little additional capital expenditure. However, the report highlighted a number of working practices that needed changing or introducing. It was recommended that ISO 12647/2 be integrated with the procedures that the company already had for the quality standard ISO 9001. A small amount of capital expenditure was identified as being necessary as well as some training.

Benefits include efficiency gains, reduced wastage, enhanced customer satisfaction, the ability to tender for more exciting work and a checklist of standards for accuracy and consistency.

The Island's Leading Printing Services And Office Products Company

Recognised For Best Practice In Training & Development Following Successful Reassessment

Douglas, ISLE OF MAN, - Bridson & Horrox, the Island's leading printing services and office products company, is celebrating achieving the Investors In People (IiP) award for best practice in staff training and development.  The award was made following a thorough, independent  reassessment process; the company was originally awarded IiP in June 2006. 

Isle of Man Government Department of Trade and Industry Minister David Cretney, MHK, was on hand to help with celebrations. He toured Bridson & Horrox's facilities, spoke with management and staff and learned how the IiP business improvement framework has assisted in Bridson & Horrox's continued business success.

"We've found Investors in People to be an excellent tool in identifying ways of improving our performance and a solid framework for continuous development," said Darren Horrox, managing director at Bridson & Horrox. "With IiP, we've implemented initiatives that have had a positive and direct impact on productivity, production and quality.  We've also seen improvements in team motivation and have reduced staff turnover."

Bridson & Horrox was founded in 1933 and has since built a reputation as the Island's premier supplier of printing and office product solutions. IiP touches every aspect of the company's business and is key to its customer service ethic.

IiP is Britain's leading people management standard. It provides a simple and flexible framework helping thousands organisations of all sizes and sectors to improve their business performance. Formed in 1993, Investors in People UK is a non-departmental public body and is responsible for business planning, policy development and promotion of the Investors in People framework.

Bridson & Horrox has also recently gained ISO accreditation from the World Certification Services-UK with stages one and two 14001:2004 of the enviromental management system, and had been reassessed to the IS0 9001:2008 standard for quality management for the management and distribution of printed and digital products and the distribution of office supplies.

Bridson & Horrox will work alongside the committee to assist in the design and production of a varied range of promotional materials for the event.

A family owned business, Bridson & Horrox was founded in 1933 and has built over the years an unsurpassed reputation as the Isle of Man's premier supplier of total printing solutions.  With a passion for products and an enormous pride in their level of Customer Service, the company philosophy of continuous improvement and investment in people ensures a highly professional and dedicated service.

Managing Director, Mr Darren Horrox said,

"I am extremely pleased that we have been selected to be the Official Publisher/Printer for such a prestigious event as the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games and I know that my team are relishing the opportunity to play our part in making the games a success"

The 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games will be held on the Isle of Man from 7^th to 13^th September 2011 with 1000 athletes from 71 nations of the Commonwealth competing in 7 sporting events.  The CYG2011 Organising Committee continues to work alongside its partners and sponsors to deliver a world class event to a world class audience.  Further information can be obtained by visiting www.cyg2011.com

Mr Geoff Karran, Chairman and Games Director said "I am delighted with the involvement of Bridson & Horrox as the official Publisher/Printer to the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games.   They are a highly respected on-island company who can guide the committee with various aspects of advertising and promotional materials to spread the word to the people of the Isle of Man"

Bridson & Horrox has a somewhat unique position in British print, being the largest printer on the Isle of Man and therefore rather detached from the rest of the industry. This has not prevented it staying abreast of the latest developments in many areas and ahead of them in others.

Its geographic location is a constant in the way that is not important for the majority of UK printers. It has been a help, as the status of the Isle of Man as a financial centre and for years the hub for the international offshore insurance industry provided a steady demand for brochures and forms which were then sent around the globe. That has long since disappeared, though the island's financial community is a core customer base.

Today the location provides Bridson & Horrox with more challenges than advantages. This is especially clear when it comes to the environment. For many years all waste from the Isle of Man would be flushed via the drains to long pipes which led to the Irish Sea where the currents would do the rest. But five years ago, the island's government built a water treatment plant and liquid waste is now very carefully assessed to see what can be sent down the drain. The spent chemicals that a printer generates do not qualify and must be stored in Intermediate Bulk Containers for shipping to the UK mainland, together with the requisite export and import licences, for processing. The printer's location means too that an emergency call out is not measured in minutes or hours, but in days. Bridson & Horrox consequently has two of every piece of key equipment to provide the cast iron guarantee that should something break down, production can continue. "We have always needed to  have two presses because we are on an island," says managing director Darren Horrox. "But when we came to replace our six- colour SM 74 and five-colour CD74, we had to consider how to reduce costs without damaging the business, In truth we had run with two presses longer than we should have."

Horrox was also looking for more than just a more efficient press. He explains: "As an organisation we try to fill our sales  people with lots of things that aren't related to price. It means that our local competition can only fight on price, while we can offer proven quality, a range of ISO standards, and ISO 14001 we saw as another way to differentiate ourselves."

Waste is carefully segregated, lighting is controlled through motion sensors and space heating is being considered on the road to certification, but it is the press that is making the most impact. The specification included on press colour controls, fast make-ready, JDF compatibility and the ability to run without IPA, not just for the ISO 14001 certificate, but also because this would save having to store spent chemistry in IBCs. The research and negotiations led to Bridson & Horrox switching from Heidelberg to buying a ROLAND 500 which was installed 18 months ago.

Today it sits in the centre of a press room where an ethos of cleanliness means that the floor is painted every six months. Horrox considers the working environment to be as important a tool as the efforts towards gaining ISO14001. "Our biggest selling point is that when people come in and see that the place is not dirty or untidy. If the place is clean you will produce clean work."

And the attitude extends through the business. "We realise that our drivers are the front door to our business," he adds. Horrox has negotiated a four year warranty on the press with monthly service visits from the mainland. In return, the press operators would stick to the maintenance regime locked into the press control system. This lists all lubrication and adjustment tasks that need to be carried out and can link to manroland headquarters for deeper diagnostic analysis. The risk has paid off. In those 18 months, Horrox reckons the press has been out of production for fewer than three days. "The reliability question was a key factor," he admits.

The press operators received training in Germany and then at the plant. Once the Heidelbergs had been removed, the transition was smooth. Plates were the same and the same vegetable oil inks were used. Even the move to IPA-free printing was not difficult as the crews had no experience of the press with the harmful fount additive to make a comparison.

The ROLAND 500 has ceramic pan rollers on the dampening side and from the outset was fitted with suitable rollers covered in a compound suited to non-IPA operation. Bridson & Horrox has had no problem with water variability, one of the benefits of its island location, so has had no need for pre-treatment. However, keeping the fount clean is of crucial importance. This is managed via a filtration unit, which keeps water on press much longer than with IPA. Previously the company had been using 1,000 litres of IPA a year, so there has been an immediate saving from its elimination, both in cost and reduced waste. Where the fount used to be drained and replaced every week, the system on the ROLAND 500 only needs replacing every 12-16 weeks. As water usage becomes a greater concern, how much water a printer uses is going to move under the spotlight.

Another ROLAND 500 user has saved 2,800 litres of water in the course of the year. A further environmental benefit has been its fast start up which typically means that only 20-30 sheets of paper are used. Make ready times are further enhanced by simultaneous set up on all the inking units, rather than doing this in sequence. "For short runs that's a big advantage," Horrox says. This feature helps too when making on the run adjustments for colour. With a reduction in capacity to the single manroland B2 press, the faster make ready has narrowed the capacity gap. Likewise the average running speed is coming out at 12,000cph, up from 8-9,000cph on the old CD. "We are getting an extra 3-4 jobs on press a day," he adds.

Another huge tick for Bridson & Horrox has been blanket cleaning system on the R500. manroland has retained a brush system rather than move to an impregnated cloth. While the cloth is said to use less cleaning solvent, it is a consumable item that needs to bought, stored, fitted and then disposed of carefully. With any waste a problem for the Isle of Man printer, a cloth system would have been another. Bridson & Horrox has dealt with this via a solvent wash to match the vegetable oil inks it uses and a Uni-ram solvent recovery system. This is a unit designed by a Canadian company, which was recommended by manroland GB. The literature claims a 95% recovery rate for the cleaning solvent, and the company is attaining 90% in action. The dirt laden fluid is left in the device for 24 hours where it is heated to help separate out the solvent from the inky and dirty residue. Once cooled down, the solvent can be reused. The remainder is waste and has to be kept for onward transport for further treatment. The recovered solvent is returned to the press. "Blanket cleaning was a big issue for us," says Horrox. "Using cloths would have meant even more waste to ship to the UK. "Moving to this press was a big decision, but it has proved a good one. Consumable costs are down because we only have one machine, not two and we are operating in a better way."

The other side of the coin is how the company's efforts have been received by its customer base. To date there has been little local pressure to work with only ISO 14001 recognised suppliers, though the Isle of Man government does specify Evolve for its stationery. But there are the international companies with CSR policies specifying environmental standards. The company also works for customers on the UK mainland who are more demanding than island businesses. "We are not being asked for it, but it is going to become a sales advantage," he reckons. "We are not the cheapest printer, but we are the company you come to if you want your work done properly.  At present the island government is not demanding ISO 14001, but it does tend to look to the UK for best practice principles.  The work will come to us, if we are patient."

The next step for Bridson & Horrox is to achieve recognition that the company can print to the  ISO 12647-2 standard, using the colour controls on the new press. Then comes replacement of its two Agfa Palladios with a chemistry free platemaking system, "which will further reduce waste and costs". It will ensure a stronger future for a long established island business. The Isle of Man may be considered behind the times in some ways, but Bridson & Horrox demonstrates that in print at least, it is very much part of the 21st century.

Douglas, ISLE OF MAN,  November 2009 - John Sheridan has been appointed Group Sales Manager at Bridson & Horrox, the Isle of Man's leading printing and office Products Company. He is responsible for sales management of all four company divisions: commercial print, office stationery, office furniture and design for print.

"John's proven track record for delivering a high level of service to our commercial print customers made him the obvious choice for the role of group sales manager," said Darren Horrox, managing director, Bridson & Horrox. "His superior sales management skills will now be brought to bear across the group in line with our corporate strategy for growth."

John joined Bridson & Horrox as print sales manager in 2006. Since that time he's built strong relationships with Island-based clients across a broad range of industry sectors.  In the past John has held sales and marketing roles in the UK printing, hospitality and retail industries.  He is a Business Studies graduate from the University of East Anglia.

"My career with Bridson & Horrox offers a unique and rewarding experience where community spirit and friendship mix with business," said John Sheridan. "My working across the group expands on this, and I'm keen to take a leadership role in building the company's continued success."

The process is a quick and simple way to identify areas which could be driving costs up and covers a range of issues including storage, distribution, over ordering, obsolescence, invoice queries, supplier meetings and time away from core business activities.

The health check will give a series of recommendations, which guarantees savings.

For further information contact tcrowe@bridson-horrox.com or phone Bridson & Horrox Tel: 01624 663311