The Wakefield printer launched China Print Management at this week's PrintYorkshire Showcase 2005, targeting larger-scale work with long lead times such as books and directories.

Charlesworth, which produces scientific journals and books, looked to China after a client, Blackwell Scientific, shifted work to Singapore.

Chief executive Graham Lawley said the service would not tackle time-sensitive magazine work, and publishers could expect to save up to 40% on costs against UK print.

Within a year he hopes the service will add 2m to his group's annual turnover of 8m.

"This comes on the back of a lot of competition from India," he said. "We decided we needed a low-cost off-shore business to compete." Lawley said his firm already had 115 staff in Beijing staff handling type setting and data conversion and they had a good grasp of the local print market.

China print management
- Charlesworth Group has 110 print and binding staff in the UK
- Clients include Cambridge University Press, Open University and several other universities
- Chinese printers aim to match quality but trim costs by 40%