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Industry stars align

2024 Printweek Awards winners revealed

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Beacons of light: The 2024 Printweek Award winners

The brightest stars in the galaxy of print were celebrated in style last night at the UK’s flagship awards scheme, where Solopress was crowned Printweek’s Company of the Year.

Just over 550 guests were entertained by host Jayde Adams, who treated guests to a comedic rendition of Nessun dorma before revealing the 20 winners of Printweek’s iconic Prisms.

And while her aria wowed the guests, nothing could prepare the audience for the deafening cheer from the Solopress team when the company secured the evening’s final trophy.

Cooper, centre: For us this is the pinnacle

“It’s incredible, just so chuffed, the team are over the moon. For me it’s all about them and that’s why I decided to bring a big team, they all made it happen,” said Solopress managing director Simon Cooper.

“It’s about the culture we’ve created in the business, every single one of our 230 staff feels like they contribute a huge amount to the overall success of the business.”

He likened the experience of being named Company of the Year to walking up a mountain to the point of exhaustion, disheartened about the scale of the challenge ahead, only to look back and take stock of what you have already achieved – which re-energises you.

“For us this is the pinnacle, so I just couldn’t be prouder – this means everything to us,” he said.

SME of the Year Resource, which last won the award in 2019, similarly stressed the importance of their team.

2024 SME of the Year: Resource

HR and global operations director Gail Weathers told Printweek: “It’s not about what we print or what we create, it’s about people passion – that’s what the award means to me.

“You never expect to win – you hope, and I did hope, but it is the right time for us to win it again because we’ve got a lot of new people. We looked at our business strategy, our business model, and our people and basically just went for what we sustainably want to achieve, so I’m absolutely delighted that all of our hard work has paid off.”

The night’s only double-award winner Kingsbury Press, part of Bluetree Group, carried off the Book Printer of the Year and Post-press Company of the Year trophies.

Sarah Kilcoyne-Guilliam, deputy general manager at Kingsbury Press, said she was equally elated for her team.

“It’s really incredible to be recognised in this way, with both of the awards, I think it’s true testament to the team and the real passion and craftsmanship that goes into every project.

“The team are all on a WhatsApp group chat and were desperate to hear updates about how we did on the night. If you look at what we produce you can walk around the factory and they know who’s done the cover, who’s done the casing-in… everybody’s so passionate about what we do. It’s incredible as a company to be recognised for that quality standard.”

And while the Solopress cheer was loud enough to heard back at its Southend factory, it was almost matched by the cheers for the three talented young people shortlisted for Trainee of the Year.

Geneve Gurr from MacroArt, which will rebrand to Moss as of 10 April following its acquisition by US company Moss Inc last year, took home the award and the £2,000 Heidelberg bursary, with high commendations for Ollie Cooper from Gemini Print and Gabby Solarek from Eight Days a Week Print Solutions.

Gurr, who started at MacroArt in March 2021, said she was delighted to win.

“I really didn’t expect it! I do print finishing and some printing, and I’m hoping to learn as much as possible about the industry with the support of Moss,” said a delighted Gurr.

Gurr’s colleague Warren Jones, a shift manager at the business, added: “We’ve been training Geneve over the last three years and we are extremely proud of what she’s achieved, and where she is today, and this award is a great end to all of her hard work.”

Scroll down to see the full rundown of the 2024 Printweek Awards winners.

2024 PRINTWEEK AWARD WINNERS

Bespoke Digital Printer of the Year
Sponsored by Fujifilm

Bespoke Publications Printer of the Year
Sponsored by Denmaur

High-volume Digital Printer of the Year
Sponsored by Bowe Systec

Book Printer of the Year
Sponsored by Canon

Label Printer of the Year
Sponsored by PCL Labels by Avery

Packaging Printer of the Year
Sponsored by Landa Digital Printing

Post-press Company of the Year
Sponsored by Intelligent Finishing Systems

Wide-format Printer of the Year
Sponsored by Premier

Innovation of the Year
Sponsored by HP

WINNERS

Customer Service Team of the Year – SME
Sponsored by Close Brothers Asset Finance

Customer Service Team of the Year - Large Enterprise
Sponsored by BPIF

Environmental company of the year – SME
Sponsored by ECO3

Environmental Company of the Year - Large Enterprise
Sponsored by Premier

Trainee of the Year
Sponsored by Heidelberg

SME of the Year
Sponsored by Compass Business Finance

Company of the Year
Presented by Printweek

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