West London print group Penrose has brought perfect binding in house following investment in a Horizon BQ-270V single clamp perfect binder from IFS.

Established in 1957, the print and digital media specialist counts Aon, Axa Insurance, Callaway, Cisco, Panasonic, and Yamaha among the brands it works with. It produces litho print on a six colour B1 Heidelberg SpeedMaster and digital print on two Xerox Versant presses.

The operation was awarded a council grant during the pandemic and after careful evaluation it was decided that adding perfect binding would be beneficial in a number of ways.

Layne Penrose, Managing Director, explains: “We found we were sending more and more perfect binding out, so being able to complete the work inhouse means we can be faster and more competitive, winning more work in the process and so driving increased value to other areas of the business. For this reason, we anticipate achieving a full return on our investment fairly quickly.”

He continues: “We offer more than just printing to our clients, with other services including creative design, marketing, data processing, mailing distribution and digital asset management services. We want to partner with our clients across a range of disciplines, and this was another reason for investing in the perfect binder.”

Penrose’s 500cph Horizon BQ-270V single-clamp perfect binder offers high-quality perfect binding and on-demand production of variable thickness books. It includes an automated, sensor-activated digital caliper system which consistently measures book block thickness and automatically transfers this data to the binder for quick, automated set-up for books of different thicknesses. It features a large 10.4″ intelligent colour touchscreen, job programming, and a compact configuration.

Layne adds: “We chose the Horizon based on the rationale that it would be simple to use and easy to set up. We also liked the very good quality of the bind and the strength of the glue. It gives us the quality that we need.”