With the demise of Kall Kwik and Prontaprint parent ODC leaving many franchisees at a crossroads, Printing.com claims that a number have contacted the company with a view to switching.

Chief executive Tony Rafferty said that this has meant the time was right to launch a white-label offering, earlier than anticipated.

The new format means franchisees can pick and choose from a menu of Printing.com services, enabling them to specialise in niche services - a trend which the £17m-turnover company said has been growing for some time. Only franchisees choosing to use the Printing.com brand have to use the printing services provided by the company.

Rafferty said that for a company with a turnover in the region of £200,000, the typical licence fee paid to licence just the branding of a rival network would be in line with the arsenal of services available to Printing.com franchisees.

The Bolt-on Franchise format, will continue with ongoing licence fees in the region of £3000 - £4000 per year depending on the territory, while the white label format fees will range from £39 up to £199 a month for the top package - the ePremium white label format.

"We're throwing out the rule book. The Bolt-on model has lasted for 10 years, and we're happy to continue that. I think around two thirds of our franchises will continue with that model, while others will want to pick and choose," he said. "We've e-enabled our franchise partners while our rivals have plotted a course that has ended in administration."

The new model will continue to respect the territorial exclusivity of Bolt-on franchisees, although he said users that choose to just white-label the web-to-print service "could set up and integrate the back end into our fiercest competitor", according to Rafferty.

"We're essentially becoming a software house, developing the best web-to-print solution in the world," he said. The company spends around £60,000 each month in software development for the Adobe InDesign Server-based system, and Rafferty said with 90 minutes training, users can create templates within 10 minutes.

"We're trademarking the '10-minute template'," he said. "The old jpeg sandwich has had its day. From now on templates will be driven by integrated systems like InDesign Server. We've deskilled the process of making templates.

"We already have more than 60 major clients on our web-to-print platform including other franchise chains and other national chains."

Printing.com has around 270 franchises and operates in the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Belgium, with master licences granted in New Zealand and the US.


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