Meet the Exhibitor: Xpedient Book Print

A Q&A with printing services specialist and
IPG Spring Conference supporter Xpedient
1. How can you help independent publishers
become better businesses in 2020?
As a print sales rep I
used to get a commission for the print that I sold. It’s the same with all
sales reps you deal with today—but there were issues for me with customer
relationship and trust. The machinery we had in our plant was not always
suitable for the print that I was selling, and I knew customers could do better
elsewhere. That was the driver for me to set up Xpedient Book Print more than 20
years ago, so that I could help publishers get the best out of their print.
So, the key to
producing top-quality books, getting the best prices for short or long runs,
having the flexibility of format sizing, printing mono or colour, binding
paperback or hardback is simple: you need to be running the right job on the
right printing press.
I won’t bore you with
the complexities of print, but what publishers should know is that there are so
many printers out there with different equipment who are just looking for any
job they can get their hands on. With changing needs and quantities and
formats, you could end up needing several printers with different equipment for
the whole range of your work to be effective. As you can imagine, many people
just end up sticking with one printer as it’s less hassle—but that often comes
with compromises to quality and cost without them even realising it.
So that’s where we are
totally different: we have partnerships with printers that cover all print
production across the UK, Europe and the Far East, allowing us to offer the
best solutions for every type of book print, every time. That gives you the
confidence that you’ll always get the best results at the best price delivered
to your schedule.
It doesn’t matter
which process is being used or where: the UK, the Far East, digital, web,
Europe, inkjet, hardback… you will only ever have one point of contact: us. We
provide great communication and ongoing support to uphold the exceptional
customer service that we are known for. So, bringing it back to the question,
how can we help independent publishers become better businesses? With no
affiliation with any one printer and access to every conceivable type of
printing press, we can help you get the most out of your print by guaranteeing
quality at a more affordable price.
It’s starting my own
business years ago that has allowed me to do this. Rather than the sales rep’s
priority—filling a printing press to get commission—my priority now is making
sure that customers get exactly what they need.
2. Beyond the coronavirus crisis, what is the
biggest issue and the biggest opportunity in your part of the publishing world
at the moment?
The print industry has had some major challenges over the last decade,
including the recession, the move to ebooks, paper supply and currency
fluctuation. As you can imagine, this current situation couldn’t have come at a
worse time either. Printers are suffering from a drop in demand that is adding
to the burden, and some aren’t going to survive.
One thing that has always stood us in great stead, however—and to our
customers too—is flexibility. Even without this current situation and previous
challenges, the market is changing all of the time: printers and sales reps come
and go, and machines get updated. When currency fluctuates, sometimes the Far
East is best priced, and sometimes Europe or the UK. Whatever changes that happen
in the market, our clients still benefit from the consistency of having one
point of contact, great service and access to all plants and machinery. This
means that we can always offer them the opportunity to get the best quality at
the best price, delivered on time.
Whatever changes come, we can adapt to be effective. Not all printers
can do this, so flexibility is our biggest opportunity.
3. What are you most looking forward to about
the IPG's virtual Spring Conference in June?
As a small team, we have built and grown our whole business through word
of mouth referrals. Many of these great relationships have started from meeting
new people at The London or Frankfurt Book Fairs, so that’s what we are looking
forward to most at the IPG’s Spring Conference. We are keen to meet members,
some for the very first time, and we hope to start forging some new and
exciting relationships.
Visit the Xpedient Book Print website.