Making Impressions is a Hampshire-based printer that aims to live up to its name by taking a strong stance on the environment.

Founder and managing director Richard Bond says the business really is making impressions - and ones that will last and help to grow turnover.

Bond has worked in the print industry since 1981 and says that, despite the "obviously tough times" the business that he founded in 2002 finds itself in, it is continuing to stay proactive. And the company has big plans when it comes to the environment. According to Bond, its simple goal is to become one of the UK's leading environmental print businesses.

In order to drive forward this environmental development, the company has brought onboard David Shorto, who left his previous role at charity Friends of the Earth last year. Shorto now combines his role at Making Impressions with his current position as print and paper buyer for Greenpeace.

Clarifying the eco jargon
Part of the company's mission statement when it comes to the environment is not to partake in "the undignified scramble to gain sales via environmental issues". Bond claims there are far too many businesses claiming their product is the most environmentally friendly or their business is the greenest, to the point that it confuses the buying community and creates a huge amount of misinformation.

Bond says Making Impressions wants to ensure its marketing is not just about buzzwords or catchy sales lines. This is echoed by Shorto who claims there is a lot of "frustration at the confusion, misinformation and greenwash" around green issues in print.
To support this strategy, Bond says he won't take the business down the carbon offsetting route. He questions why a company should have to pay a fee to offset the carbon emissions when, as he says, the money could be invested internally instead to reduce its carbon footprint. Bond also counters common claims by printing companies about the use of vegetable-based inks. While he agrees that they are more environmentally friendly, they are not suitable for all types of print.

According to the company, there are only a small number of environmental certifications that are actually appropriate for print companies. "We are making website visitors aware of the limitations of the accreditations and certifications," Bond says. It took the company a year to secure ISO 14001 and it also holds FSC. However, Shorto claims that FSC has nothing to do with day-to-day environmental standards because "you can gain it with an unregulated auditor".

There is, according to Shorto, also an argument that standards such as ISO 14001 should be conducted in levels, so that customers can distinguish companies that put a different amount of effort into sustaining the certification.

In addition to its ISO 14001 and FSC accreditations, Making Impressions plans to start the process of becoming EMAS-certified later this year. It claims that there are only around six printers in the UK currently certified to the standard, but Shorto believes it will become more widely known in the future. However, he argues that EMAS is the Blue Ribbon certification scheme because it is more about continuous improvement.

Surviving the recession
The company's current turnover is £2.5m, down from £2.7m before the recession. However, Bond says he aims to increase this to £3.4m in the coming years by increasing sales and not through kit investments.

The company's last purchase came in March 2008, when it bought a four-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 52 Anicolor. According to Bond, the press can start up in five minutes and uses as few as eight sheets to get up to sellable sheets. As a result, Making Impressions has marketed the press as a short-run machine to help convince customers of the benefits of litho over digital.

Since Christmas, Bond says that the company has managed to stay "very busy", despite the current economic situation.
With plans to increase its customer base and turnover during 2010, as well as EMAS certification on the horizon, Bond says that Making Impressions should do more than live up to its name.