Spring Update

Unless you have spent the last six months down a mine shaft, You will probably know that the latest “Big Thing” is images “face mounted” on to Acrylic or Perspex.  Variations on this theme include “sandwiching” images between two sheets or even printing on to the reverse of sheets, but compared to “The Real Thing”,  these methods do not look nearly as professional.  So why do people

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Welcome to April’s issue of our e-newsletter.  It’s been a while since we were last in touch so we certainly have plenty to tell you about.  From tales from our new Taiwan office to details of our current special offers, as well as the latest news on whats hot and whats not in the framing and photography world, there’s bound to be something of interest to you in this month’s newsletter!

with some very positive feedback from you all.  If you would like more information about the cutter please download the brochure here or speak to Steve Goodall on 07714523780.  Overall, the shows were a huge success and as quoted by Steve Goodall, HotPress Sales Manager, “these were the best shows we’ve had in years and despite a slightly dreary past couple of years, as experienced throughout the whole industry, business is certainly looking a lot more rosy!”

We want to say a big thank you to everyone who visited us at this year’s Spring Fair, SACA and Focus On Imaging. Unlike the last few years, this year’s shows  were all very busy for us, with not a minute to rest, so we hope we managed to see you all and answered all your questions!  Our special offers were snapped up quickly and the new vertical saw, better known as  the  Inglet  cutter  was  also  well  received

owners Steve and Molly Robertson were delighted that their framers’ work was selected.  The winning entry and two finalists have now been entered into the National Framing Award, to be judged by  a panel of sponsors, GCFs and staff at the Guild office with the winner to be announced at the Art & Framing Industry Awards event on the 17th May to be held in Bristol later this year.

Once again, Guild members from all over the South West gathered at our UK headquarters in Bristol for our Spring branch meeting and judging of the Regional Framing Award.

 

John Palmer of Wessex Glass & Mirror, sponsor of the Regional Framing Award, gave an interesting talk on the benefits of specialty glasses, demonstrating the tensile strength of toughened glass in a novel way with the willing assistance of artist member Matthew Grayson.  Following  a sumptuous buffet  dinner,   members enthusiastically  set  about the task of

judging the framing award entries.  Framing professionalism and excellence was rewarded for the best of a striking exhibition of pieces framing an identical print provided by Designline Systems.  Artist Nel Whatmore’s stunning floral picture has inspired the entrants, who showed how different the creative combination of frame and mount can make an image look.  The competition resulted in a win for the framing team  from  Frames  &  Boxes  Ltd,    Newton   Abbott;

We are delighted to announce that we have recently taken on Renaissance Mouldings as a new distributor of Hot Press products.  The company is based in Waltham Abbey in Essex and has been established for over 10 years now.  They have in stock in excess of 800 moulding patterns, together with a full range of framing equipment, mount board, backing boards, hardware and much more.  Click here to visit their website or call them directly on  01992 764666.

Due to the ongoing popularity of our training schools, we have added yet another 3 dates, making a total of 48 dates in total this year.  The 3 new dates are 22nd May, 14th August and 20th November and will take place at Glenwood Mouldings in county Wicklow in Ireland.  Click here to download a booking form or for a full list of training dates visit the training page on our website.

Further to the report in the last newsletter, about our new production plant in India, We are pleased to announce some more exciting developments.  We have shipped a number of the first production machines to the UK, for inspection & approval by Steve Goodall, Richard Cummins & Roy Brown.  Between them they have over  seventy  years  experience

of using presses & their eye for quality is unsurpassed in the industry.  We arranged a straight test between the Indian presses & a press built in Bristol.  So what were the results & their thoughts…?

 

“When placed side by side the machines do look slightly different, but in use they perform to the same high standards we expect from European machines”.

 

“Finished results from all the machines were exactly the same as from the UK press , that is to say, perfect”.

 

“On the “speed to vacuum” test, three Indian machines actually beat the UK press, but all performed well within our expected timings”.

 

“It would be impossible to tell the Indian machines apart from their British built counterparts, other than by the colour coding of a couple of switches”.

 

“It is very reassuring to know that with press demands on the increase around the world, we now have two plants that can produce machines to the same high standards”.

 

“Well done to all involved, they have done a great job in producing something so well built & from scratch, in such a short period of time”.

 

John Bell, our chief engineer & research/development manager said “it is one thing for engineers to inspect & pass these machines as A1, but it is praise indeed when people with so much experience in the “day to day” use of our presses tell us that they think the machines are 100% ready to be launched”.

 

We will of course keep you posted on further developments in the months to come…

try & do it that way? Simple really – “The Admission Price”.  To get up & running with face mounted Acrylics costs over £250, not excessive when you  look at the profits that can be made , but too high for many who want to “Test the water first”.  With this in mind we have come up with a solution!!!  This month you can get your hands on a “taster roll” of our transparency mount film for just £60 ex vat.  The rolls are 650mm x 5M.  So what do you have to do if you want to take advantage of this offer???  Simply email Steve Goodall at stevegoodall@hotpress.co.uk & give us your contact details!!!  Please put SPECIAL OFFER in the subject line of the email & we will get back to you to process your order via your favourite distributor.  Don’t hang around though, as this offer is only available in April 2008.

In January 2008, HotPress opened their new Taiwanese office, situated in the Farglory Free Trade Zone in Taipei, an ideal location for serving its surrounding markets of Asia and Indonesia with its sophisticated transport network, air freight station, storage buildings and logistic centres.  The new office and distribution centre is managed by Eric Li who speaks English, Chinese (Mandarin) and Taiwanese, and was previously employed  by  the  Maserati   and   Ferrari   Importer  in  

Taiwan but decided it was time to work for a real quality manufacturer and distributor.  We all welcome Eric to HotPress, and we are confident that he will contribute significantly  to

the team and significantly develop our sales in that part of the world.