Shelter Box

Instead of sending Christmas cards we donate money to charity. For the last couple of years this has meant we have donated oxen, beehives, goats etc to some of the poorest people on earth. I think this is better use of money and I am sure our customers would agree.

In Helston, Cornwall there is a particularly worthwhile charity called Shelter Box. They send tents fully equipped for up to 10 people to survive - full information is on this website. www.shelterbox.org/box

This year we have chosen a local charity basically because it is Cornish but helps in the worse hit areas of the world. I hope that we can help in Bangladesh because I travelled there 3 years ago and the people are great even though they constantly face disasters.

Run up to Christmas

Steve has been sending out emails to remind our customers not to get caught out in the Christmas rush. Every year customers tend to leave ordering later and later. This is really noticeable in the direct mail industry. Trouble is that all those goods have to get with their end user before Christmas. Please don't get caught out yourself.

I have just had a couple of weeks in Singapore where the weather is a constant 32 deg except for the deluge of monsoon rain in the afternoon. But it's great just to be able to wander around and put on a coat to go into the stores where the air con is so cold.

Asia is certainly going to be the powerhouse of the next 50 years. Technology and education is an absolute must and there is huge competition to get on.

Great news from Claire

Claire had a baby girl born 28th July at 12.11am early Saturday morning. The baby weighed 8lbs 2oz and is called Lucy Elizabeth. That's quite a coincidence because one of my daugthers is called that too!! Great minds think alike.

The rain has stopped here today and at last some sun is shining through.

New faces at KCS Trade Print

Claire is leaving us to go on maternity leave. We wish her and her new family well. She has been brilliant at getting things done in the accounts department. Lynn has joined Pat in the accounts department and will be dealing with any of your queries.

Debbie Japes has returned to The Office at KCS after her recent globe-trotting jobs with Virgin. But hey, it just got so boring jetting off here and there. She's returned for some real excitement with us. Let's face it - what does Miami have to offer we can't supply.

Chris, one of our press operators, is getting married on Saturday. The reception is in Newquay. Yes, the surf, sea 'n sand place. He's praying that the sun might come out.

Kev, in our finishing department, is celebrating his birthday (19). I know you can all remember that birthday!

Cornwall - a great place to do business

I was delighted to be voted top business woman in the Cornwall Business awards 2007. Two of my judges were past Governor of the Bank of England, Eddie George and Tim Smit, founder of the Eden project.

Cornwall is a great place to do business. There are many innovative companies here - working globally.

Why not visit us at KCS Trade Print - how about a Friday followed by lunch at Rick Steins at Padstow or Jamie Olivers restaurant, Fifteen.

You can then visit the world famous biomes at the Eden Project. The latest James Bond film features it!

Then as we are famous for sun, sand and sea you could spend the rest of the day lazing around!

You can fly from Gatwick and Stansted it takes about 40 minutes straight to Newquay. We will get you.

We hope you are all OK

I rang one of our customers in the Hull area yesterday to find no answer. All was revealed when I heard they had gone home due to the excessive amounts of rain and flooding.


I hope all is well with you. KCS Trade Print are keen to hear any of your comments on this blog.

As ever with manufacturing life is either desperately busy or starting to slow down. We have had some really good months following the slow early start to this year.

I am concerned though that with this awful summer weather the retail industry lack of sales will start to feed through the print industry. There are going to be some massive sales on summer clothes starting soon. I see BBQ goods are already on sale!

Interest rates are due to rise again and that will also have an impact in the amount of money people spend on goods and hence on our forms.

The margins are tightening and there are some very low prices in the market. One of the issues is that if the prices are too low you can never get them back to a true manufacturing cost. I think this is shortsighted as there is then no money available for investment in new equipment. The print industry likes to live on a knife edge. Same old story of over-capacity.

What happened to summer

So much for flaming June then. Torrential downpours - thunder and lightning - grey glowering skies.
Oh well - it must have been summer in April.

Gordon has just got back from Amsterdam where he was visiting the CVG paper mill with the IPIA. I haven't heard anything technical but the apparently the beer was good. And the trip to Canal street. But I'm not allowed to know anything.

Talking of which On form paper's Geoff Jones is bringing in someone to talk through ISO 40001 Environmental standards. This is good as we have just introduced our own environmental policy and want to try and do our bit to reduce our own carbon footprint.

All of our paper waste is recycled. The trimmings end up in the compactor and are baled. All our loos are flushed with grey water collected from the roofs and held in a tank that repumps it to a holding tank. All good stuff.

Anyway better get some work done.

It's flaming June again

It is absolutely scorching here today. We will need to get aircon in if the weather keeps up like last year. The factory floor itself isn't too bad but we have a breeze flowing through the open windows in the office.

It's Friday afternoon and Gordon has just gone out with a visiting customer. It's a good day to visit us as you can have the weekend on the beach in Cornwall.

It's pretty busy downstairs which is good and gives the place a good buzz. With the windows open I can hear the thud thud thud as the tamaracks roll on.

It's Donna's last day working here today. So we have been tucking into chocs etc. She is off to be involved in wedding planning - sounds quite good fun to me.

On Monday Debbie is coming back. She left about 4 years ago to become an air stewardess and then was working at Wrigley's in Plymouth. It will be good to work alongside her again.

Test Post

KCS Trade Print Ltd.