What was produced?

A run of 2,000 books was printed by Chartwell and bound by Tudor, intended for sale priced at £7.50 each.

What did the job entail?

Leicester-based Chartwell used its Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74 to print covers and text pages in four colours. The printer used 300gsm gloss-laminated Magno Plus Silk, from Premier Paper, for the covers and uncoated 130gsm Superset, supplied by Elliott Baxter, for the text pages. The books were then shipped to Tudor in nearby Wigston, where they were bound using a Bourg BB3003 perfect binder.

What challenges were overcome?

Deadlines were tight for the project, as Tudor received the commissioning call from BBC Radio Leicester on 15 November with a one-day deadline, in order to get the books together in time for Pudsey’s big day two days later. Chartwell was similarly hard-pressed to get the job done quickly when it got word from Tudor about the job.

“Like any job, you just have to pull together, do the graft and get it done,” said Chartwell production manager Jon Collins. “We and Tudor had to push ahead. We worked the longer hours required to get the job done on time.”

What was the feedback?

BBC Radio Leicester was more than satisfied with the finished books, which are being sold locally. Their design work, produced in conjunction with agency Tudor Rose, took up the bulk of the work time, with the printing and binding work being carried out in the final run-up to the deadline. Collins said he expects further orders for the book to come in soon. 

BBC Radio Leicester diversity project lead Marsha Ramroop said: “We were very happy with the job the companies did. We hope to raise £10,000 from the sale of the books, for BBC’s Children in Need, which supports children from disadvantaged backgrounds.”