Uniskill, which traded as IGW, had been selected by Heidelberg as one of the first UK beta sites for the digital colour press (PrintWeek, 19 October 2001).

NexPrint director, and former Uniskill director Simon Harris said that litho company Uniskill had struggled since the death of major shareholder Brian Foote in 1999.

Harris said the liquidation of Uniskill at the end of January had left creditors with some bad debt, but that the decision had been necessary to preserve jobs. He added that he was Uniskills biggest creditor.

"It was a very sad decision. Uniskill grew as a litho printing business. I helped Verity, Brians wife, after his death, but it came to the point when the position was untenable," said Harris, "The company could no longer trade, so there was no option. You have to take decisions to preserve peoples jobs."

Harris said the companys NexPress, which would allow it to operate in lucrative niche markets, would secure the future of its 20 employees.

Heidelberg Digital High Volume (DHV) southern sales manager Chris Matthews said Heidelberg had selected the NexPress beta sites on their knowledge of the digital market and had targeted firms that could provide a high volume of pages per month.

"The fact that it [Uniskill] went into liquidation is unfortunate but beyond Heidelbergs control," he said. "NexPrint has ordered the NexPress, and it will be the company that is invoiced."

Other NexPress beta sites include Hackney Wicks Em-En-Ess, Printflow 86 in London, and a consortium of Prontaprints from the capital.

Story by John Davies