Jarrold has already produced the catalogue for two years.

The new contract was awarded after a tender process against UK and European printers, which Jarrold commercial sales director Simon Rigg described as very competitive.

Rigg said: We won it basically because we forged a close working partnership with Maplin. Weve given them a lot of front-end support and theyve been impressed with the attention to detail and service they have received.

Maplin Electronics declined to disclose how many catalogues would be produced per year and the value of the contract.

However, Rigg said Jarrolds remote proofing facilities had been integral to the production process and that the process was run entirely in-house once the scans and artwork were delivered.

The catalogue, which comes in UK and Irish (euro) versions, will be spread over three presses two Baker Perkins G16 64pp presses and a Komori 16pp. It will be bound in-house.

Maplins marketing director, David OReilly, said Jarrolds understanding of the project proved instrumental to it being awarded the business.

OReilly said: The excellent PDF process and close working relationship with the studio works especially well on a catalogue of this magnitude.

Story by James Quilter