It’s obviously been a tough 18 months for you both following the collapse of Litho Supplies, are there any positives you’ve got out of it, any lessons learned?

BG: Yes, do better due diligence if you want to sell your business to a plc... Of course there were tough lessons, but the most important thing was we learned who our friends were and who our key suppliers were and we’ve been knocked out by the support of our staff and customers too.

TH: And no-one has gone without being paid, that was very important for us.

BG: That’s right, obviously for us personally and morally it was a very tough time. But you get through it and we’ve taken it as an opportunity to focus on what we’re good at and what we know: finishing. We’re focused on the future not the past. Horizon is our king product and everything else complements that. Finishing is still so under-invested here in the UK and I’m convinced that when the recovery happens, with the number of people that still have manual machines that they’ve sweated to breaking point, but are still running, when they are ready to replace them they will have to for automation, and we have the perfect machines.

Clearly investment is a big issue in the industry, with the lack of finance stifling many companies' ambitions – is it get getting better?

TH: The simple answer is no. We’ve just sold a collator to a university and we had to give personal guarantees to their bank for them to be able buy the machine.

BG: It’s Horizon kit and we know it has a residual value of at least 50% after three years. But I just couldn’t believe the bank insisted on guarantees. I’ve got no idea how people are funding presses if that’s how bad things are. The banks are telling us that things will get better in the third or fourth quarter, but we’ve no real evidence of that and I’m not convinced.

As far as your plans for the future, are you simply going to focus on post-press then?

BG: Absolutely.

TH: Obviously we still want to work with the digital press manufacturers and litho, because there’s still plenty of life in litho.

BG: Partnerships and collaborations are key. We recently attended the Ryobi/Apex open house, Komori is attending our ‘Print Efficiently’ event in June as are the likes of Kodak, Kern and Renz. It’s a two-week event and we’ll have a Komori multi-colour press, a Kodak platesetter and Nexpress digital engine along with equipment from all our other partners, all in our showroom. Partnerships are just a natural way to go and I’m sure they’ll become even more important.

Speaking of partnerships, it emerged at the show that you’re both involved with the launch of Dumor UK...

BG: Yes, it’s an interesting venture for us. It’s focused on entry-level systems and aimed at a completely different market from IFS and Horizon and is complementary to everything we do with Horizon. The Dumor products are perfect for small start-ups or entry-level digital or offices or small inplants, and we haven’t [with Horizon] got anything to offer them so IFS will in effect be dealer for some of, but not all, of the Dumor UK range.

TH: If we didn’t do it, someone else would have. It gets us talking to new customers too; people who aren’t perhaps ready for Horizon equipment, but these companies are the acorns that will grow into the industry’s oaks.

You mentioned automation earlier, what do you think are going to be the key drivers for change in post-press?

BG: Run lengths. A short run length is now one, and a medium is 200 when you’re talking to our digital customers and a long run for them is 500. So makeready is critical.

TH: Makeready has to be very simple, skill is almost unneeded now, which is good because so much has already left the industry – the apprenticeships of yesterday are no more.

What are your thoughts on Northprint?

TH: I do think it’s a shame that more suppliers haven’t supported the show, confidence is critical to print and we need to show willing and prove that there is still something in print. I understand it’s expensive to come, but there are still some big companies missing and they should be flying the flag for the industry.

BG: It is a shame that there’s not more in the way of litho here as it’s not a digital show, it’s a show for the north and it’s very important. We’re excited to be here and it’s great to see our customers from the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland many of who probably didn’t come to Ipex. We’ve virtually bought the full range and that’s why.

How do you measure the success of Northprint?

BG: It’s got to be in terms of sales. We’ve got expectations from the organiser on the number of visitors and we would be looking for it to start with a three and have three noughts on the end. If it hasn’t got that we’ll be disappointed. You can’t compare this show to 2009, you have to look at 2007 for a benchmark. We didn’t come in 2009, but I think this was the right year to come back.

Do you think these kinds of shows have a future?

BG: Well if this year isn’t a success then it’s dead.

TH: The industry should be able to support one small show like this a year, when you look at the number of suppliers who don’t have their own showrooms in the UK anymore – then they need it really.

So, what are your thoughts on moving the show to Manchester?

TH: I do recall that years ago they did run the show at the Gmex and I quite liked it. It was a reasonable show there and it wouldn’t worry us at all.

BG: I don’t think that the halls in Harrogate are designed for heavy presses. Even if the manufacturers wanted to get heavy metal in here, they couldn’t really. And Manchester is as good as anywhere, it’s a major city – so why not!