INDUSTRY / NEWS 6 email: news@printmonthly.co.uk January / February 2024 - Issue 346 PrintMonthly printmonthly PrintMonthlyMagazine Large explosion hits Welsh industrial estate An explosion has taken place at a Welsh industrial estate that houses towel printing business Bursali Towels and is located nearby to print company DecTek. The ‘fireball-like’ explosion took place at around 7pm on December 13th in Rizla House, a warehouse that houses 13 commercial units including a gym, a telecoms service, and Bursali Towels, which offers digitally printed promotional towels. Treforest Industrial Estate and the surrounding area are home to several businesses and local services which were affected by road closures and investigations following the explosion. Reports from local residents and business owners say that “earthquake-like booms” could be felt in the area, with several cars and businesses becoming damaged. Posting on Facebook, Andrew Cox of Andrew Cox Barbering, said: “The gym is heartbreakingly no longer accessible together with all the businesses inside including Andrew Cox Barbering.” Business owners in the local area have also offered their help and services in light of the situation and a GoFundMe page was set up for the businesses affected. Bursali Towels, which offers a range of products for hotels, spas, and promotional events was hit by the explosion. The company exhibited at Printwear and Promotion LIVE! in February earlier this year. Another printing company situated near to the incident is DecTek, which including its Big Bang Print wide-format division is located across two sites in Treforest Industrial Estate. Situated across the river from where the explosion took place, DecTek was not damaged but like all local businesses nearby experienced disruptions caused by the aftermath of the incident. Speaking to Print Monthly, managing director of the company Mike Beese, said the shockwave of the explosion could be felt throughout the estate as it "shook all the windows in the two businesses". When news broke of the explosion one person known to be in the area at the time was unaccounted for. Police sadly later reported that a body had been found. On December 16th, South Wales Police named the person who lost their life as 40-yearold Danielle Evans. South Wales Police is now working with fire service and Health and Safety Executive colleagues to determine the cause of the explosion. A major incident was declared following a large blaze on Severn Road, Treforest. Image: Valley Times (Facebook) By David Osgar Whistl UK is seeking over £600m in damages from Royal Mail Group and its parent company International Distributions Services (IDS) due to anti-competitive behaviour. In 2018 a £50m fine was imposed on Royal Mail by postal regulator Ofcom for breaching competition law with price changes specifically targeting competition from Whistl in 2014. Royal Mail made three attempts to challenge the outcome before paying the fine. Following this, Whistl filed a damages claim for the significant financial impact on its business as a result of Royal Mail’s actions. The value of the claim, which is estimated to be in excess of £600m, is based on business planning documents which were stress tested in 2013. Whistl claims £600m+ in damages from Royal Mail Following the success of The Print Show 2023, businesses are confirming their presence early for the 2024 event. At the end of the 2023 exhibition, many exhibitors including Resolute, VB Media, Venture Banners, The Online Print Coach, and Trade Embroidery had already confirmed their space for 2024. Since then, Fujifilm UK, Morgana, Solopress, Route1Print, Premier Paper, InkTec Europe, Result Clothing, Graphtec, Vivid Laminating Technologies, and more have also confirmed their spaces with many increasing the size of their stands. Vivid has committed to its biggest-ever stand at the show with a 208sq m space at the back of Hall 17. Artworker and swissQprint will also both be exhibiting for the first time. [L to R] Luke Stoneham, sales manager at The Print Show, and Brad Goldsmith, marketing manager at Premier Paper Group The trial is expected to begin in 2024 following a case management hearing Exhibitors go big early at The Print Show 2024 Fujifilm has announced an 85% increase in the use of its in-store photo printing service PHOTO by Fujifilm Kiosk. The service was launched at its flagship House of Photography store in Covent Garden last year where more than 35,000 photos have been printed so far. Fujifilm has attributed the success to a combination of good kiosk positioning, user-friendly interfaces, in-store customer support, and the increased popularity of personalisation and gifting. The success of the kiosks is part of Fujifilm’s continued efforts to invest in the UK high street as also demonstrated earlier in the year with its transformation of independent retail partners. Fujifilm sees in-store printing increase by 85% Customers of PHOTO can print images straight from their smart phones without a long wait time
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