Norfolk printer Barnwell Print ordered a Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition digital colour press at drupa last month. The family-owned, fourth-generation business was established in 1840 and is located near the market town of Aylsham.

The company handles ‘a little of everything,’ from high quality case bound hardback books to business cards, catalogues and magazines. Previously it relied on B2 and B3 offset presses.

‘While we have done work for businesses in other European countries in the past, most of our work is UK-based,’ said director Julian Barnwell. ‘We’re in a fantastic part of the UK for tourism, which gives us a lot of business opportunities. In order to respond to our client’s demands, we decided to complement our litho production machines with a digital press. We did extensive research of the digital technology available in today’s market and for 18 months we had a close look at the whole spectrum of what is available.

‘A huge part of choosing Ricoh was influenced by trying to do what is right for the environment,’ he added. ‘It’s exciting that we can offer all our customers and potential customers carbon balanced printing on both lithographic and digital technology. And, it’s great to be one of the first.

‘As a company we have been looking at our carbon output. I’m glad to say that in March, when we received our certification, we were the first printer in Norfolk to be carbon-balanced. We did this working through our primary paper supplier, Howard Smith. We conducted the entire carbon audit and offset our carbon impact by contributing to a UK charity, the World Land Trust. They do excellent work with rainforests.’

The Ricoh press’ print quality was also an important factor, said his brother, Lincoln: ‘If you look at the characteristic of the actual image from the Ricoh Pro C901, it’s very similar to the effect we get from our lithographic presses. The print quality was, what we believe, the best compared to litho whilst still being cost effective. And, with our colour management, we can get a close tie-in to what is coming off our lithographic presses and the Ricoh Pro C901 digital press.

‘Ricoh also offers complete solutions with hardware and software support, added Julian Barnwell. ‘If you look at the stand at drupa, you can see that we can tie in mobile and iPad technology and with QR codes. That is an important benefit we can offer to our clients in advertising looking for creative cross-media campaigns. In the last four years, Ricoh has really accelerated its offerings. It convinced us that it is a forward-thinking company and we want to be part of that momentum.

Contact: www.barnwellprint.co.uk and www.ricoh.co.uk