Biddles site to shut

Biddles, the book printing arm of W&G Baird Group, has ceased production at its Guildford site with the loss of up to 58 jobs.

Only three staff have transferred to the firms Kings Lynn site, where it is consolidating production (PrintWeek, 8 November 2002).

The transfer is ongoing, but the pre-press will all be integrated as of the end of August and by September our purpose-built offices will be complete, said general manager Iain Hudson.

Guildford will not officially shut until the end of the year and will continue to house some account control functions.

Biddles has bought two secondhand two-colour Heidelberg AutoPlate Speedmaster 102 perfectors and is transferring two more AutoPlates from Guildford to Kings Lynn.

It has also recruited seven new Speedmaster machine minders to assist with a two-fold increase in print capacity.

Story by Rachel Barnes