Lulu vice president of business solutions Andrew Pate, has been in talks with several printers in the UK. "We have been impressed with the level of service encountered so far and Antony Rowe especially left a very positive impression with us," he said.

The firm is in the final stages of a European expansion programme, including a 20-staff UK office.

Service and ability to adapt to Lulu's technology has been key for the publisher when choosing all its European printing partners. "It is essential for our service that any printing company we work with can use JDF-integrated into their own systems," Pate said.

Would-be authors in the UK have been able to upload their work onto the Lulu website since its launch the UK in August 2005 and the publisher now sees 12% of its sales generated by British customers. Currently, any UK order is printed in the US and shipped over.

Until now, ColorCentric, a New York-based digital printer, has been using its Xerox iGen3 Production Press and the Xerox DocuTech 6180 Book Factory to meet the needs globally of the on-demand publishing service.

Lulu specialises in short-run publishing and allows authors and small publishing houses to upload work on to its site where it is then printed in black and white or colour as a book, magazine or calendar with runs as short as one.

Lulu factfile
- Weekly titles: 1,000

- Year founded: 2002

- Current Monthly growth: 10%

- Estimated UK accounts: 15,000

- Production cost for 100pp colour photo book: 12 ($20)