Printstop joins global network in national rebrand

PrintStop, New Zealand’s leading kiwi-owned printing franchise network, gets a new look this week with a national rebrand as the chain becomes a key link in a global network.

From Friday, 1 April 2011 New Zealand’sonly printing chain with a 100% locally-owned, nationwide presence will become printing.com.

This move follows an executive decision to more closely align the New Zealand network with its global powerhouse partner, UK-based printing.com.

PrintStop founder and Chairman of the Board Lawrence Evans says over the past five years PrintStop has become a name familiar to Kiwis and synonymous with well-priced, quality printing with a guaranteed fast turnaround.

“None of this will change with the rebrand and we will remain 100% kiwi owned and operated. From the 1st of April it’s business as usual at PrintStop, with the same great people, same high quality, same handy locations, same friendly service, same delivery promise – but we’ll just have a new name.”

Mr Evans says the values held by printing.com mirror those of PrintStop, which was a primary motivation behind the decision to join their global network, and PrintStop CEO Steve Messenger says joining printing.com was a natural choice for the company as there were many synergies between the two business models.

In recent years PrintStop has worked increasingly closely with printing.com, recognising the company as a global leader and trying to emulate them in many ways.

“You don’t join an international network without being able to take advantage of the opportunities that come with closer alignment,” says Mr Messenger.

“There’s also positive perception that comes from the credibility associated with membership of a leading global network which can only benefit our franchisees.”

PrintStop Takapuna and PrintStop Albany franchise owner Erin Adkins says being part of the global printing.com brand will bring added value to customers through a wider range of services.

“Providing quality print at a competitive price to all our customers is our goal, and franchise owners benefit from that too by being able to take advantage of the network’s global reach. Our ability to provide new offerings for clients is paramount to keeping us ahead in terms of marketing, services and business opportunities for clients to assist the growth of their businesses.”

Joining the printing.com network will enable the kiwi company to address business challenges such as scalability while empowering franchisees to grow local operations through an extensive market offering.

“Franchisees will have a stronger competitive advantage through access to a larger pool of resources, broader expertise and the latest technology and developments coming out of the UK,” says Steve Messenger.

“There’s also the environmental benefit of our expanded network which will enable us to further reduce wastage through resource sharing.”

Additional benefits for the New Zealand franchise network include access to international design and marketing professionals providing collateral and resources to help franchisees and in turn help customers market their businesses better.

“printing.com also provides a lot of support for targeted marketing campaigns that can be measured, monitored, recorded and fed back into the business development loop,” says Steve Messenger.

“This way we can retain and further develop sustainable demand and our competitive edge in New Zealand by continuing to deliver consistently high quality.”

“One more thing - if you’re searching online for print services and you ‘google it’ we like the fact that we now have the added advantage of our new name so we will be even easier to find. Currently the global website is ranked 13th in the world for website traffic in the printing category.”

“Otherwise it’s business as usual for us. Aside from the name, nothing else has changed.”

For further information please contact:
Steve Messenger
CEO
PrintStop Limited
Mobile: 027 470 5019
stevem@printstop.co.nz

About PrintStop
The first PrintStop franchise opened in Tauranga in June 2005. Today the network is New Zealand’s only nationwide printing chain with a locally-owned presence in 49 cities and towns around the country. PrintStop offers a broad portfolio of printing services from business cards, calendars and leaflets to large format printing, offset printing and digital printing services. The company specialises in the guaranteed delivery of high quality, full colour printing to small and medium-sized businesses throughout New Zealand.
www.printstop.co.nz

About printing.com
Headquartered in Manchester’s Trafford Park, printing.com has become a global leader in the delivery of high quality printing services. printing.com is an AIM-listed company with a 2010 pretax profit of £1.7 million on a turnover of £14.5 million and has operations in the UK, France, the
Netherlands, USA, New Zealand, Poland and Republic of Ireland.
www.printing.com