The Watkiss Vario collating system and bookletmaker was donated from Coventry Building Society's Fulfilment Centre to We Do Print’s Gloucester premises around two months ago. The two 3D machines, both Makerbots, came in a month prior to the bookletmaker, joining We Do Print's existing Makerbot, installed at the end of last year.
Whereas previously We Do Print was quite limited in terms of kit, Commercial Group co-founder Symon Hindmarch-Bye, who set up the enterprise along with Natalie Wadley in 2015, said the bookletmaker purchase had opened up the scope of work it can now take on.
Hindmarch-Bye said: “Clients like Mears or Kier do lots of booklets in-house for internal use and this has been something we have now been able to fulfill. They have been keen to increase print sales and create social value, so it’s been such a gift. We are very grateful to Coventry Building Society.”
We Do Print says it creates £4.87 worth of social value for every £1 received and for Mears Group alone created around £200,000 worth of social value in 2016. Hindmarch-Bye said the new bookletmaker will create around £170,000 worth of social value.
The two new Makerbot Replicator Z18s have been assisting with We Do Print’s print design work and are more high-end than the original Makerbot, which was used for a recent prototyping job for an unnamed company looking to invest in social enterprise projects.
We Do Print is also in talks with the University of Gloucestershire, who recently donated £40,000 in exchange for Hindmarch-Bye developing a plan on how to teach undergraduate students to engage with social enterprise. It is also negotiating to integrate with the university and create an innovation space on one of its campus sites.
“What we want is discuss, using We Do Print as an example, is Commercial Group’s belief that doing social good not only adds value to someone’s life but actually is great for business,” added Hindmarch-Bye.
“Commercial Group allows me and Natalie [Wadley] to talk to customers about what we are doing. This doesn’t guarantee anything but with people like Sky, Kier and Mears there is a fantastic advert for businesses to engage with social enterprises.”
We Do Print employs disadvantaged young people and gives them the personal and professional skills to ready themselves for a career in print.
86% of the 54 that have been through its doors have gone on to secure paid work or further training, one of which is Samuel Jackson, a founding member and winner of PrintWeek's 2016 Trainee of the Year Award.
Print management provider Commercial Group turned over around £42m last year. It has offices all across the UK, with headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
