Printer's First With New Customer Service Standard

Polar Print Group has been named as the first UK printer to achieve a kitemark award for PAS75 - British Standards Institute's new industry standard for print service providers.

Polar Print Group has been named as the first UK printer to achieve a kitemark award for PAS75 - British Standards Institute's new industry standard for print service providers.

The Leicester-based printer was awarded the new kitemark as a visible sign of BSI's endorsement of Polar's customer service excellence and its continuing commitment to consistent reliability, high quality and service that adds value for its customers, said the company.

The scope of Polar Print's kitemark covers pre-press, sheet-fed lithographic printing, finishing, inserting operations, packing, delivery and fulfilment operations.

Commenting on the announcement, David Gask, managing director of Polar Print Group, said: "Today's customers are looking for more than just keen pricing and quality from their print suppliers, they are demanding service excellence.

Everyone at Polar is immensely proud that we have become the first printer in the UK to be awarded this new British kitemark.

Whilst it is early days for the industry to fully embrace the specification, we see this new kitemark as a means for printing companies to guarantee the highest levels of service and customer care - giving prospective buyers greater confidence when choosing a new supplier." Published in consultation with the British Printing Industry Federation (BPIF), PAS75 forms the basis of the kitemark scheme providing assurance to potential customers of print service providers that their print production and service has been independently evaluated and that the service provider's controls are in accordance with stated requirements.

Gask added: "What's important now is that we encourage more printers to begin the process to accreditation so that, as an industry, we continue to raise standards.

As the first printer to secure this accreditation, we are keen to hear from print buyers to identify the level of awareness amongst them about the new kitemark, as well as the importance they will place on it.

This will hopefully encourage other printers to follow our lead." BSI Product Services managing director, Alastair Trivett, added: "It is good to see Polar Print leading the way in the industry and actively encouraging other members to join the kitemark scheme to help raise standards industry-wide.

In a competitive market place where print companies need to stand out from the competition, the new kitemark scheme helps to differentiate them from other suppliers." He added: "A company carrying the kitemark can clearly demonstrate its commitment to delivering quality, reliability and customer services that add value and increase business." Kitemark licensees are subject to continuing surveillance by BSI to ensure that they continue to conform to the specification's requirements.

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