Corporate Print Services has once again been officially recognized for its professionalism and creativity in a recent National Industry Awards ceremony – Winning 4 Awards!

CPS was delighted to, once again, win the APCOM highly coveted Award for Best Environmental Awareness 2009, at the Annual Conference of APCOM (Association of Print and Communication Managers), held this year in Kirklees (Huddersfield). The Award was sponsored by Infotec, a new supporter in this category for the association. The Crystal trophy and certificate where presented to Kevin O’Hara, Senior Printer of Corporate Print and Post Services, by Craig Lewis, Infotec.

The second of the four awards, was for Best 1, 2 or 3 Colour Work - Litho or Digital, which was sponsored this year by Konica-Minolta. The prestigious Award trophy was presented to one of our CPS Assistants, Andrew Woodward, by Nick Hancock, Business Development Manager. This was a fantastic achievement and a great step forward from the 2008 Awards.

Third award was for the Best In-House Promotion Piece, sponsored by Océ. The Award trophy and certificate were presented to Nick Moss, Senior Graphic Designer, by Ed Hudson, National Marketing Manager. To achieve this recognition for our promotional and marketing literature shows what a fantastic effort the team makes to maintain and secure both new and repeat business. This is also backed up by our own Intranet and Internet site, on which we also market the section and have on-line ordering facilities.

Finally, the fourth award that CPS received was for Best Use of Digital Photography Award, sponsored by McNaughton Paper Ltd. The winning certificate and trophy were presented to one of our Graphic Designers, Daryl Brown, by Tom Stewart, Sales Executive. Daryl produced an excellent piece of work for this category and rightly deserved this acknowledgement.

The Awards featured were four of nine award categories at APCOM's recent annual Awards and Gala dinner, which celebrates success and innovation within the Public Sectors' expanding design and print community.

Winning these four awards and the recognition by our industry colleagues, is a fantastic achievement and only goes to show that through the sheer hard work of the team and the implementation of our recent ISO 9001:2000 accreditation, we are doing something right. With our continued attention to quality and good design standards in place, we can only move forward and upwards, proving that we are committed to quality, high standards and most of all, to our customers.

Mark Barlow
Head of Print and Post Services

Corporate Print Services has once again been officially recognised for its professionalism and creativity in a recent National Industry Awards ceremony

CPS was delighted to win the APCOM highly coveted Award for Best Environmental Awareness 2008, for the 4th year running, at the Annual Conference of APCOM (Association of Print and Communication Managers), held this year in Chester. The Award was sponsored by Océ, a new supporter in this category for the association. The Crystal trophy and certificate where presented to Mark Barlow, Head of Print and Post Services, by Roy Bartholomew, National Public Sector Manager, Océ.

The second of four awards, was for Best Graphic Design, which was sponsored for the second year by Canon (UK). The prestigious Award trophy was presented to our Senior Graphic Designer, Nick Moss, by Suzanne Tidmas-Cole, Head of Professional Print Sales. This was a fantastic achievement and a step up from the 2007 Awards, in which CPS received the runner up for the same category.

Third award was the APCOM Print Apprentice of the Year, won by Paul Parker, this being the second year for this new category and sponsored, once again, by Danwood. The competition was strong and Paul went forward to the final three nominations, along with Frazer Kirkwood of Stirling Council and Leo Salter of Somerset Council, who both won Runner-up Trophies, £50 Cash and Digital Cameras. Paul's prize was a 3 Day trip to the Drupa 2008, the world's largest print trade show which is held every 4 years in Germany, along with a Panasonic NV-9S180 Digital Video Camera, £250 Cash, Trophy and Certificate. We wish Paul well and look forward to his report back next year on his travels. This was a double feather in the cap for Blackpool, as this award was also won last year in CPS, by Andrew Barton, who will be joining Paul in his trip to Drupa.

Finally, CPS also received a Highly Commended Award for Best Finished Product, sponsored by Graphic Arts Equipment (GAE). The Highly Commended Certificate was presented to our Senior Printer, Kevin O'Hara, by Tony Hards, Managing Director - Graphics and Production Systems Division, GAE.

The Awards featured were four of nine award categories at APCOM's recent annual Awards and Gala dinner, which celebrates success and innovation within the Public Sectors' expanding design and print community.

Winning the Environmental Award for the 4th year running is a great achievement and shows commitment for Blackpool Print Services. Having also received the Award for Apprentice of the Year, for the 2nd year running, the Graphic Design Award and a Highly Commended, also shows our commitment to our staff and we continually strive to offer the highest design standards and quality of output. Our Graphic Design team, headed by Nick Moss, combines a conscientious attitude with natural talent and creative flair, which is reflected in our work.

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Corporate print services have recently received full ISO 9001:2000 accreditation after 3 years of hard work. All the team have worked extremely hard in order to achieve this goal and will continue to strive to maintain the high level standards that they have now reached.

ISO 9001 is the internationally recognised standard for the quality management of businesses. It applies to the processes that create and control the products and services an organisation supplies and prescribes systematic control of activities to ensure that the needs and expectations of customers are met. It is designed and applies to virtually any product or service, made by any process anywhere in the world.

Essentially certification shows that we are committed to quality, customers, and a willingness to work towards improving efficiency all of which are an integral and ongoing part of staying accredited. It also demonstrates the existence of an effective quality management system that satisfies the rigours of an independent, external audit.

We hope that our customers will share in celebrating this milestone with us and as always your comments and ideas to help us improve our service are always welcomed.

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Beacon Hill pupils recently showed off their design skills when they made a special visit to Blackpool Council.

The 15-year-old budding designers attended a 'day in industry' at the Council's Corporate Print Services (CPS) as part of their Year 10 GCSE Design and Technology course.

CPS is an in-house design unit that offers a wide range of print and design services to Blackpool Council, other councils, schools, colleges and other government departments.

Skills learnt in the classroom were put into action as the pupils met with Print Marketing Officer, Paul Claber, and Senior Computer Graphic Designer, Nick Moss, who guided them through the modern process of how their designs of logos end up as an image on professional products, such as a t-shirts and mugs.

Paul Claber, Print Marketing Officer, said: "By working with school students we can show them the practical changes that are taking place in the real working world and the advances that are being made in digital media.

Click here for images from the event.

Click here for images from the event.

CPS was delighted to scoop the APCOM highly acclaimed Award for Best Environmental Awareness 2007, for the 3rd year running, at the Annual Conference of APCOM (Association of Print and Communication Managers). The Award was sponsored this year by Howard Smith Paper, a new supporter in this category for the association.
The second of the two awards, was for Apprentice of the Year, won by Andrew Barton, this was a new category for this year and sponsored by Danwood. The competition was strong and Andrew went forward to the final three nominations, along with his colleague Paul Parker and Callum Dickie of West Lothian Council, who both won Runner Up Trophies, £50 Cash and Digital Cameras. Andrew's prize was a 3 Day trip to the Drupa 2008, a print event held every 4 years in Germany, along with a Panasonic NV-9S180 Digital Video Camera, £250 Cash, Trophy & Certificate. We wish Andrew well and look forward to his report back next year on his travels.
CPS also received a Runner Up Award for Best Creative Use of Digital Photography, this year sponsored by Canon. The Runner Up Award trophy and certificate were presented to our Senior Graphic Designer, Nick Moss, by David Crichton of Canon.
The Awards featured were three of nine award categories at APCOM's recent annual Awards and Gala dinner, which celebrated success and innovation within the Public Sectors' expanding design and print community.
Winning the Environmental Award for the 3rd year running, is a great achievement and shows commitment for Blackpool Print Services. Having received a Award for Apprentice of the Year and 2 Runner Up Awards, also shows our commitment to our staff and we continually strive to offer the highest design standards and quality of output. Our Graphic Design team, headed by Nick Moss, combines a conscientious attitude with natural talent and creative flair, which is reflected in our work.
In its 28th year APCOM (formally known as AIM - Association of In-Plant Managers) has adapted over the years, in line with contemporary demands, to support all professionals working within the UK 's Public Sector who are either directly or indirectly involved in print related activity.
Representing District and Borough Councils, Unitary, County, Metropolitan and Police operations, APCOM's membership now comprises Printing Managers, Graphic Designers, Communications, IT and Business Managers.
The Awards are a regular part of APCOM's annual conference, attracting entries from many new and long serving members of APCOM. Starting several years ago with only a few entries, the 'Awards' have now become a major event in APCOM's calendar and a real catalyst in driving up quality and bringing together, through APCOM, the diverse range of local authorities.
For more details please contact Corporate Print Services Manager Mark Barlow on 478767.

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The 2nd of our planned Open Days, was held at Progress House on the 10th November and again was another great success.
This time the Open Day was held in partnership with ICT, targeting all customers old and new. The event was attended by nearly 200 visitors, an excellent turn out.
The day was a very informal event and was aimed at providing departments, councillors and external customers, both old and new, a broad oversight of what services are on offer and it also gave us a chance to show off our quality services and achievements. CPS were also thrilled to be given the chance to show off their Trophy and Certificate for the APCOM Environmental Award for 2006/07, which they won in May 2007, for the second year running along with Best Graphic Design Award - a superb achievement for all the team.
Visitors to the open day were also shown an exclusive preview the New Promotional Video of "A Day in the Life of Print Services", filmed recently by Mark Barlow and Nick Moss within the print room and edited by our own Graphics Design Team - a few stars in the making, who knows!
It is our plan to continue with these very successful promotional open days and hopefully it will not be too long before the next one, we plan to have at least two each year - so look out for further information.
Finally, a great thank you to all the councillors and members of staff that took time out of their busy schedules to spend a little time with us, it is hoped that you all benefited from the experience and took something away with you, if not just the CPS Calendars.

Click here for images from the event.

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Corporate Print Services has been officially recognised for its professionalism and creativity once again in a recent National Industry Awards ceremony.

Click here for images from the evening.

CPS was delighted to scoop the APCOM highly acclaimed Award for Best Environmental Awareness 2006, for the 2nd year running, at the Annual Conference of APCOM (Association of Print and Communication Managers). The Award was sponsored this year by Canon, a new supporter in this category for the association.

The second of the two awards, was for Best Graphic Design, which was sponsored for the second year by MacPeople Digital Training. The prestigious Award trophy was presented to our Senior Graphic Designer, Nick Moss, by MacPeople's MD, Karen Davies.

The Awards featured were two of eight awards categories at APCOM's recent annual Awards and Gala dinner, which celebrated success and innovation within the Public Sectors' expanding design and print community. CPS were also pleased to have received a Highly Commended in the Self Promotion category.

Winning Best Creative Design Award and the Environmental Award, the latter for the 2nd year running, is a milestone for Blackpool Print Services, we strive to offer the highest design standards and quality of output. Our Graphic Design team, headed by Nick Moss, combines a conscientious attitude with natural talent and creative flair, which is reflected in our work.

In its 27th year APCOM (formally known as AIM - Association of In-Plant Managers) has adapted over the years, in line with contemporary demands, to support all professionals working within the UK 's Public Sector who are either directly or indirectly involved in print related activity.

Representing District and Borough Councils, Unitary, County, Metropolitan and Police operations, APCOM's membership now comprises Printing Managers, Graphic Designers, Communications, IT and Business Managers.

The Awards are a regular part of APCOM's annual conference, attracting entries from many new and long serving members of APCOM. Starting several years ago with only a few entries, the 'Awards' have now become a major event in APCOM's calendar and a real catalyst in driving up quality and bringing together, through APCOM, the diverse range of local authorities.

For more details please contact Corporate Print Services Manager Mark Barlow on 478767.

Visitors to the open day were also given personally guided tours of the Print Room, which is in the basement of Municipal Buildings - this gave them an insight into what work is carried out and how it is done, the majority of visitors all signed up for the tour and the staff also enjoyed meeting and chatting with them - we don't get out much and I'm sure the CPS staff enjoyed it more than the visitors.

We next plan to have an open day in about 4 months time, which we will try and organise at another site - possibly Progress House, however if anyone wishes for a tour of the print room - they will have to be shipped over, hopefully we can organise a virtual tour via video, something that is also in the pipeline.

Finally, a great thank you to all the councillors and members of staff that took time out of their busy schedules to spend a little time with us, it is hoped that you all benefited from the experience and took something away with you, if not just the flashing pens.