South Normanton, UK – 8 March 2018 – Newspaper and commercial printer, The Blackmore Group (www.theblackmoregroup.co.uk), has endorsed its confidence in Sun Chemical as a trusted business partner by placing a contract for the supply of all of Blackmore’s conventional offset, LED and cold-set inks for the next three years.
The decision follows a strategic review by Blackmore of their main ink suppliers, which had grown to three since the installation of its KBA Rapida 105 three years ago, when it became the first company in the UK to print with LED UV on a B1 press.
Nigel Hunt, Production Director, Blackmore, comments: “The decision to invest in LED UV was certainly the right one for us, but it meant that we added yet another technology to our existing press portfolio of cold-set web and commercial offset presses, for which we already had separate ink suppliers. We were initially guided down the route of working with yet another ink supplier for the LED UV, but that relationship worked well at first – as was our aim, we thought we’d found a partner with whom we could work together to improve and take the inks further. Unfortunately however, as time went on, that proved not to be the case and instead it gave us the impetus to progress with consolidating our ink suppliers into one.”
Based on the excellent relationship that Sun Chemical had developed with Blackmore over the years that it had been supplying the company with cold-set inks, the quality of Sun Chemical’s products and the success that Sun Chemical was having with LED UV with customers elsewhere in Europe, Blackmore was happy to listen to Sun Chemical’s recommendations.
Hunt continues: “We’d been very happy with the quality of Sun Chemical’s cold-set inks and Sun Chemical had proved themselves to be a very reliable and supportive partner over the years that we’d worked with them. We also took into account that the Sun Chemical inks are manufactured only an hour away from us – that is massively beneficial as it means that we can work together really effectively to further develop the inks.”
Following a series of rigorous trials on the KBA Rapida 105 with Sun Chemical’s SunCure Starlite LED UV range of inks, Blackmore and Sun Chemical worked together to fine tune the inks to Blackmore’s satisfaction. Delighted with the results, at the end of last year Blackmore offered Sun Chemical a three-year contract to supply all its conventional offset, LED UV and cold-set inks across both its sites in Shaftesbury and Reading.
“We’re very pleased with how the relationship with Sun Chemical is continuing to flourish,” adds Hunt. “We’re working hard together, particularly on the LED UV inks to take them forward. We’re keen to explore any new avenues that Sun Chemical can offer us and, in fact, are working on many with them at the moment. Sun Chemical keeps us fully in the picture with what’s happening and we work together on the changes, so we’re aware of what we’re looking for in the next version of the ink. We get no surprises, just transparency. We really have a true partnership with Sun Chemical.”
David Bland, Sales Director, Blackmore, remarks on other benefits of the relationship: “We find that, having the global reach and associated expertise they do, Sun Chemical are always one step ahead in legislation. If, for example, there are any impending bans on any chemicals or substances, they always seem to be at the forefront of complying with any required changes. We deal with a lot of high-end customers and when we have to compile a tender or are asked for some legislation that the ink conforms to, I’ve always felt that Sun Chemical takes any request from us very seriously and we always get a positive, confident response from them that allows us to go confidently back to our customers.”
Adam Anderson, Managing Director UK, Nordics & South Africa, Sun Chemical, says: “Our value proposition to our customers is very much based on three things – quality, service and innovation. In Blackmore we have a customer whose values appear to be either the same or, if not, very similar, which in our view makes for a perfect working partnership. To date, that has very much proved to be the case and, for at least the next three years, we look forward to supporting Blackmore through the development of our ink technology, especially in the new area of LED UV, to grow their business further.”
For more information on Sun Chemical’s product portfolio, please visit www.sunchemical.com
