The contract was secured on the recommendation of Kidderminster web offset printer TPL, which printed the UK and Eire 220pp editions and had worked with Preprint Imaging in the past. The 172pp German and Italian editions were printed by Neef + Stumme in Wittingen, Germany.

CF Media managing director Vince Cooper said: Preprint Imaging showed great creativity and a real willingness to find solutions for unexpected problems that arose, like lost DVDs and late ads.

He added that TPL was chosen largely due to its flexibility to make plate changes for each of the editions, which required different sections specific to the country.

We spoke to six printers in all, but after seeing TPLs facilities we were very impressed, particularly with its ability to turn things around so quickly, said Cooper.

The UK edition of the World Cup Guide Book had a print run of 125,000 with a further 40,000 for export. And Germany, Italy and Eire had print runs of 80,000, 50,000 and 35,000, respectively.