The owner of Ipex has given its 140 members access to the ICSM database on a complimentary trial basis until the end of the year, when members will have the option to renew at a discounted rate.

Picon financial director and secretary Rod Bryan said: "Our members approached us and lobbied hard for the organisation to join a credit checking facility. A few of them already used ICSM and the company was highly recommended to us."

Other trade organisations that have signed up to the Croydon-based company include the BPIF, the British Association of Print and Communications (BAPC), the British Binders and Finishers Association, the Screen Printing Association and the Association of Printing Machinery Importers.

ICSM sales and marketing director Rupert Rudd said: "We are absolutely delighted. It takes us up to nearly 5,000 member companies in the industry all working for a common goal."

* Knight Organisation chairman Michael Knight has succeeded Tim Webb as chairman of Picon.