Contract win is hot off presses for Bell & Bain

Scotland’s oldest printing and bookbinding firm, Bell & Bain, has won a “significant” contract with an academic publisher after investing in a new high-speed press.

The contract with Oxford University Press (OUP) came after the Glasgow-based academic book and journal printer invested in the latest litho colour and digital monochrome printing and binding technology, funded by a £3.4 million asset finance deal with Bank of Scotland.

The press is the only one of its kind in Scotland and means that Bell & Bain can slash print production time in half. The firm has forecast a sales increase of more than £1m in the year ahead on an annual turnover of around £8m.

Founded in 1831, Bell & Bain employs 80 staff and prints books and journals for a range of clients including Cambridge University Press, McGraw Hill and Taylor & Francis.

OUP is the largest university press in the world, publishing more than 4,500 new books every year.

Ian Walker, chief executive and chairman of Bell & Bain, said: “We have always maintained a lead on our competitors by investing in equipment and technology that would maintain our standing as one of the leading book and journal printers in the UK.

“Only by achieving this and by working with our customer base to fulfil their needs and requirements have we been able to stay ahead of the competition by winning significant contacts.”

John Steele, an asset finance relationship manager from Bank of Scotland, said: “We’ve worked with Bell & Bain for over ten years now and we’re confident that they’ll go from strength to strength as they develop the business across the UK and potentially into Europe.”