Wiltshire-based digital printer Copy Color was the star of the night at the annual event’s gala dinner held on Saturday night (18 January) at the Holiday Inn in Elstree. The company was named Business of the Year, while Formara took home the trophy for Environmental Business of the Year. Supplier of the Year went to Canon and Duplo’s DC-745 slitter-cutter-creaser was named as product of the year.
Duplo managing director Peter Jolly said: "We're really proud of this award as we were part of the R&D project team for the DC-745. Digital presses are getting ever faster and we felt it was right for this product to move a lot faster than its predecessor, the 645. It has really hit a purple patch over the past two years and this award is a testament to that.
He added: "We've supported the BAPC since the year dot and the conference is exceptional for its scale. This time it really did get people thinking outside the box."
On the conference programme BAPC chief executive Sidney Bobb said: “We are absolutely delighted with how the conference went. The feedback we’ve had has been extremely positive and I think it shows we got the right speakers and topics for the current time.
“The year has started with a real feeling of optimism in the industry and that showed in the presentations, which were all very motivational.”
As keynote speaker, former HSBC chief economist Dennis Turner launched proceedings with an informative insight into the shifting economy and the opportunities that lie ahead, with growth slowly returning and the industry looking set to invest again in 2014.
A Q&A session on social media featured an expert panel including SEOPRescue managing director Laurence Knopf, Plucky Marketing’s David Packman and Duplo’s Peter Jolly, who stepped in at the last minute. The discussion covered appropriate and effective use of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for business marketing and development and how to avoid potentially damaging your reputation. Quality over quantity, understanding your customers and followers, and why using a combination of media – not just social – is key, were some of the messages to emerge from the debate.
In other presentations, FM Brooks director Frazer Chesterman offered his thoughts on managing change in a changing print environment and developing new leadership strategies, while Konica Minolta’s Mark Hinder and Charlotte Graham-Cummings from Ice Blue Sky spoke on understanding the SME market and making use of creative agencies.
Rounding up the industry speakers for the day were Trevor Crawford who highlighted show features and areas at upcoming Ipex 2014, while Canon’s Andrew Harris detailed the vendor’s ROI calculator, launched last year and asked delegates for feedback on the product.
