The business, part of the Precision Proco Group, told Printweek that book production in all forms represents 30% of WTTB turnover today and is enjoying “double-digital growth”. Its aim is to offer a comprehensive online service for all run lengths of books to create margin and sales opportunities for the resellers it partners with.
The Book Super Centre will be based at the group’s Dagenham site, which houses the trade finishing arm of Cliftons Bookbinders following an acquisition of assets from the business late last summer.
The Dagenham team will take care of the entire book offering apart from inkjet book publishing, which is produced at the group’s Sheffield site.
Numerous new book production options will be available via the Book Super Centre, which launched yesterday (14 February) with a 10% discount on books until World Book Day on 3 March.
In November the business installed a Mitablock Pro automatic hot melt section gluing machine from Digibook Technology to enable it to offer layflat books with the option for both soft and hardback covers.
The business said the new device will allow for faster turnarounds and lower prices than previous methods for short-run layflat. It believes it will now be able to print and bind for a lower cost than printing in-house and outsourcing the binding, and without the complication.
Thread sewn books will also be added to the existing options, with Scodix embellishment and foiling options also available for some books, with WTTB now also able to produce longer runs on saddle-stitched books and PUR.
Dust jackets, head and tail bands, and coloured bookmark ribbons are also available to enhance the finished products.
Precision Proco Group chief executive Gary Peeling said: “The book printing side of the business is a high growth area for us, and we have seen it perform strongly in recent years.
“It made perfect sense for us to invest and to enhance this offering to put us in an ever stronger position going forward.”
550-staff Precision Proco Group also took delivery of an HP Indigo 100K at its Dagenham site last month, to boost its capacity and productivity.
