Goodhead Group completed the rebranding of its web operations this week, with new signs going up at Benhams in Colchester and Goodhead Print in Bicester, which will now be known as benhamgoodheadprint or bgp.

The firm's plans were first revealed in PrintWeek in March.

"In a highly-competitive environment we believe this marriage will result in a one-contact company that will deliver more than the sum of the parts to our customers," said group managing director John Cooling.

Ron England becomes managing director of bgp, with Adry Homan heading up sales and marketing.
The group has invested 25m in the businesses over the past two years. This includes a Heidelberg M4000 48pp web at Bicester and a 64pp MAN Roland Lithoman IV at Colchester.

"With heatset colour in two locations if wed left the businesses as they were they would have been competing against each other, and it would have caused confusion for customers," explained Cooling. "We started putting things together so wed be ready when the presses were up and running."

The M4000 was commissioned at the beginning of the year, and the Lithoman will run its first live job later this month. Cooling said: "Its a very sophisticated press and has closed loop inking and a ribbon folder. Makeready is very fast."

A major pre-press and finishing spend complements the new press firepower. At Colchester one of the first Agfa Xcalibur VLF CTP systems in the UK has been up and running for a month, while CreoScitex VLF kit is installed at Bicester.

Two Muller Martini Corona perfect binding lines and Onyx inserters have also gone in at Bicester, while at Colchester a massive 40-station Heidelberg UB binder was commissioned in the summer.

"Its spectacular - we built a 50,000 square foot unit to house it!" Cooling added. "A lot of companies can print anything, but when it comes to the binding its a different matter."

Goodhead has also spent around 1m on MIS from Prism/QTMS.

BGPs sister company Stones the Printers has also received an image revamp, and has seen investment in CTP and additional UV coating and creasing equipment to bring that work in-house.

Goodhead is promoting the revamp with a marketing campaign with the theme of "twos company", and has also launched a new website at www.bgprint.co.uk