If you were to ask people for their impressions of the East Sussex town of Eastbourne, many would no doubt refer you to its famously aged residents and an atmosphere of slightly doddery gentility. For others, it may awaken memories of childhood summer holidays by the seaside. To pan-European book printer CPI, however, the coastal operation of its Antony Rowe manufacturing site couldn't be any more forward looking.

"We see growth in single copies and micro runs. Of course, you will always have big sellers like Harry Potter, but this is where we see the book market going," says Martin Collyer, general manager at Antony Rowe Eastbourne.

This CPI operation specialises in ultra short-run book printing and plays a key role in the group's commitment to produce anything from "one to one million books" - late last year the company reached the impressive milestone of printing its millionth single-copy book. Together with Antony Rowe's Chippenham facility, which produces short- and medium-run titles, the company currently employs 65 staff and has an annual turnover of £21.8m.

Collyer's commitment to super-flexible production is shared by his new UK chief executive, Francois Golicheff, who joined from Riso Europe. Although still relatively new to the group, Golicheff, who took over when industry veteran Mike Taylor left his role in November last year to take on a more advisory position at CPI, has set about instilling a holistic approach within the workforce, encouraging staff to regard each part of the group as equally important.

"It's more important than ever to act as a group. We used to work factory by factory, but now we have to integrate. We must have full synergy by organising in divisions for global growth. The importance of linking market segments will be crucial going forward, as will being close to the end-user, the reader. We will stay ahead of the market through proper analysis and understanding the habits of our readers," he says.

Big spender
To fuel this integration, the group is putting its money firmly where its mouth is with a £22m spend on equipment and technology to build its capabilities in digital and conventional  equipment over the next three years. This represents a significant investment, especially in such a shaky economic climate, and even more so considering that, only in September, Antony Rowe Eastbourne took delivery of an Océ VarioPrint 6250 mono digital press. The machine was the firm's fifth Océ in the two and a half years since general manager Collyer's arrival at the business.

"Print-on-demand has revolutionised the book printing industry and transformed our business - today, no book ever need to be out of print. All publishers can bring books to market at minimal risk. By having the ability to print short run lengths cost effectively publishers are able to measure market demand," says Collyer.

With the printer's on-demand offering enjoying steady growth, pairing with equipment manufacturers is something both Golicheff and Collyer identify as a catalyst for further expansion. "The market will be flat going forward, but we need to - and will - expand. Working with strategic partners such as Océ will be crucial in developing our business. We need to be marketing oriented and take out unnecessary cost," says Golicheff.

According to Collyer, CPI's Eastbourne operation has enjoyed a steady increase in turnover over the past two and a half years, especially in a time where he believes "cash is king". The site has completed 246,000 orders in the past nine months with an average run length of three books. Collyer adds that people want to save on the unit cost of a book and save on warehousing, an opportunity afforded by the print-on-demand model. It's a sentiment echoed by Golicheff. "There is a definite swing in the market, which is increasingly moving print to the internet and a print-to-order basis, and we are moving with the times," he adds.

With several years of heavy investment behind them at Antony Rowe Eastbourne and the promise of more to come, moving with the times is exactly what the firm plans to do. "We are proud of our achievement. Our investment shows that we want to be a real player in the overall book production, not just a printer," Golicheff says.

While Antony Rowe may call Eastbourne's sleepy climes home, this company knows that future prosperity will be built on action and has no intention of slowing down.

CPI Antony Rowe
Turnover £21.8m
Staff 65
Eastbourne general manager Martin Collyer
Services Single and ultra short-run book printing
Established 1983