LIFESTYLE - SUMMER 2017

BUSINESS HEROES...

POINT CONTROL F

Point Control: PUR bookbinding and wire-o-bind specialists... when it comes to acquiring a superior service in the cuing-edge art of bookbinding, the UK's finest printers and designers look to Accrington's Point Control

or the past 21 years, this extraordinary business, which was started by friends Richard Berwick, Shaun Gill and Andrew Cavannagh, has grown from guillotining and packaging scratch cards to becoming pioneers in the binding and finishing game. Their state-of-the-art machinery and brave decision to become one of the first bookbinders in the UK to use PUR glue – a revolutionary adhesive used on space cras - has launched Point Control to the top of their niche profession. While still one of the most trusted finishers in the sensitive scratch card industry, other esteemed projects, both past and present, include work for royalty, the prison service, novelists, government ministers, medical associations, premiership football teams and yours truly... Accrington LIFE : STYLE magazine. Julie Leishman is the Business Development Manager at Point Control where the management team alone has 130 years' experience in print finishing. Julie says: "We have a really good mix of clients at Point Control, which is just the way we like it. We are purely binders and finishers, so most of our work comes through printing and design companies whose clients expect a high-quality end product." The core team of eight highly-skilled staff operate from a 7800 sq. . unit on the Huncoat Industrial Estate containing state-of-the-art machinery. "Everyone here is multi-skilled," says Julie. “One of our director's sons is an apprentice and about to become fully qualified.” Managing Director Richard Berwick adds: "As you can imagine it takes expertise and skill to use these guillotines, folding and wire-o-bind machines and the PUR book binder – our most advanced piece of kit!" Another recent investment is the newWire-o-binding equipment. Wire-o-binding has a very different look to PUR Binding and when well designed, coupled with using different coloured stocks and wires from the range available, can create very arty publications with great impact. Staffwellbeing is at the forefront of Point Control's ideology and the company is super-strict on safety issues, bringing in scissor lis and anti-fatigue mats to reduce manual handling. Richard says: "We're really hot on looking aer our workers because, despite the machinery, this is a labour intensive job. It can be a tonne per hour that goes through these machines."

While circulation in the UK press has slowly fallen, elsewhere in Europe, newspapers still thrive – and scratch cards remain hugely popular with their readers. There is no doubt that the print industry experienced slump in recent years, Julie says the market has now stabilised again aer an initial rush of making everything digital. Julie says: "I do think people are moving away from geing their information online all the time. It has seled down to a good mix of the two. "So at first everyone went online for bus timetables, information booklets, training manuals and auction brochures, and there was a period when people stopped printing in the volumes they previously had done. "Now that has changed and there is a good balance of information coming through both channels."

Point Control... quality, innovation, precision vision!

Point Control was one of the first UK binding companies to use PUR adhesive 11 years ago – a revolutionary product which allows printers to use glossier papers and special coatings. PUR (Polyurethane Reactive) reacts with the moisture in the paper and is 48 hour to full adhesion forming a chemical bond between the adhesive and the paper. Richard adds: "The page will tear before the book or magazine will fall apart. It is really strong!” As 18,000 LIFE:STYLE magazines trundle off the PUR binder at the rate of two and a half thousand per hour, another order of 50,000 arrives at goods in. "I can't talk about this one," says Julie with a smile. "Let's just say it is a VIP client!"

Julie adds: "For me personally I still like to read a book from a tactile point of view. I like my Kindle for holidays because they don't get soggy and covered in sun cream, but other than that I head for a book or magazine." Point Control has an industry-wide reputation for quality – which is why they are trusted to handle prestigious projects such as binding publications for BuckinghamPalace, and programmes for Burnley Football Club. Says Richard: "I'd say our aention to detail really does set us apart from other binding and finishing firms. People who use us trust us. We deal with quality end products here. It's a very niche market. "As soon as we spot an issue we let the client know; because once it is bound the whole job will need reprinting, and that’s costly to them."

Above: • Julie Leishman. • Andrew Cavannagh. • Richard Berwick. • Shaun Gill. Opposite: The latest issue of Life:Style hot off the presses.

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