PressOn took away two prizes from the ceremony: a gold award in the Out of Home (OOH) and Vehicle Decal category, and the People’s Choice Award, voted for by industry peers.
Joint managing director Andy Wilson, who attended the ceremony, said: “We were chuffed to bits to the get the OOH/decal category because there was such stiff competition. Winning People’s Choice was quite a surprise and a nice bonus.
“It has a big impact on the guys back in the factory – we can tell them all day long that they are doing these prestigious projects – we take that for granted sometimes when you’ve wrapped buildings like the Ritz and Harrods at Christmas for the past eight years – but this shows that other people also see the quality of our work.
“We got one last year and were also shortlisted for the PrintWeek Awards. It gives you credibility.”
Hot on the heels of the wins came two enquiries. The company signed non-disclosure agreements for the deals and so cannot reveal details but Wilson said the jobs would provide “two or three months solid work” for the Chatham, Kent business.
Fellow gold winner, Uckfield, East Sussex company Forest Digital, a fashion business which prints on textiles, was surprised to secure the top prize in the in the Penants, Banners, Tapestries and Roll to Roll Printed Textile category.
Client liaison Kelsey Wright said: “We’re chuffed, especially as there were some strong competitors at the show. This will give our business a bit more exposure. A lot of people are textile printing using digital print but we wanted to show that the quality of our print is really good. Hopefully it will mean people will be more likely to stick with British manufacture. We meet our clients face to face.”
The Print House Group, of Burgess Hill, West Sussex and Cambridge-based Novalia both won silver awards, in the Fine Art and Posters, Single Sheets and Multi-sheets categories respectively.
Print House operations director Graeme Richardson-Locke said: “It's great the recognition; in a show that’s got global entries to get a silver is something that’s absolutely terrific for us. It’ll bring us credibility and illustrates competence and that we are working to take risks and we are able to push the boundaries of the process.”
The man in charge of print production at Novalia, known for its work on integrating capacitive touch into print, Chris Jones said it was great to be recognised by the industry and especially by Fespa.
“Some of our work involves POS and the wide-format side of the industry so being recognised by someone like Fespa is really significant. It will raise the awareness of the technology that we will be working on. It’s going to open the eyes of the print industry.
"I’m very glad to be recognised.”
The Best in Show prize went to Dutch company TS Visuals for its entry in the Metal and Wood Products category.
