The company, which was set up as a subsidiary of Virgin Projects last year (PrintWeek, 18 May 2001), has also named former Goodhead Print managing director Geoff Hughes as its general manager, while Sarah Holmes, formerly marketing solutions manager at Carwin, joins as business development manager.

David Hartley, chief executive of Communic⁸ and Virgin Projects, said the firm would release details of new contract wins in the next few weeks.

"They are particularly exciting as they continue to expand the wide range of sectors we operate in," he added.

Hughes left Goodhead last year following a reshuffle of its management structure, which came after Ron England took charge of the groups web operations at Colchester and Bicester (PrintWeek, 1 June 2001).

Holmes was responsible for mapping client graphics and print supply chains during her time with Carwin, which is based in Essex and is part of the Adare Group.

When Communic⁸ was launched it planned to exploit the benefits of the Virgin Projects service, which had saved Virgin 5m on its own print and related costs over two and a half years.

It has targeted blue-chip companies that spend upwards of 1m a year and believed it could save these firms between 15% and 20% in year one and 12-15% in subsequent years.

Story by Gordon Carson