Hotels and restaurants face new challenges as competition and technology combine to leave ‘traditional’ establishments out of sync with their leaner and keener competitors. These days having an edge is even more important, and we can help by giving you access to a whole range of ‘must-have’ print, from in-room collateral to funky menu printing.

We have gathered all of our hospitality printing in one new category to make it easier to find all of those fabulous products that go towards making your establishment memorable – whether it is a hotel, fine dining, B&B or simple fare.  

It has become somewhat fashionable to be 'down' on Christmas. Indeed, it is really quite common to eavesdrop on conversations about Christmas these days and hear phrases like 'its too commercialised' and 'it gets earlier every year' being exchanged in exasperated tones.

In fact, some people are so down on Christmas they even talk up the idea of doing away with it altogether!

Imagine that? A British winter without Christmas!

Whilst Christmas in the twenty-first century is obviously more commercial, stressful and expensive than it was in previous years, it still fulfils an incredibly important purpose – it breaks up what would otherwise be an extremely long and dispiriting winter.

Can you imagine going from the end of October to the middle of March without having a festive season of some kind to look forward to/prepare for/overindulge in? No Christmas carollers; no TV sitcom Christmas specials; no cards; no presents; no rubbish cracker jokes; no charades or tournaments on the Wii; no decorations in the living room; no once-a-year visits from distant family members, and – perhaps worst of all – no Great Escape on Boxing day!

All you would have is around 160 straight days of perpetual cold and dark with only the distraction of New Year's Eve to take the edge off.

Of course, Christmas is not likely to be cancelled anytime soon. Still, it is worth noting that cynics of the festive season do have some valid points. To be sure, the stress of trying to get Christmas 'right' and the highly commercialised nature of the season can be disenchanting at times. However, it is perhaps the cost of Christmas, the extra expense of it all which gets people down the most at this time of year.

Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to make some extra cash in the run up to the big day. Indeed, endeavours like selling unwanted goods on eBay, delivering Christmas catalogues door-to-door and sorting mail at the Post Office are all effective ways of generating some much needed extra income.

As well as being very easy and satisfying, greeting card printing is also a great way of making some extra cash in time for Christmas. After all, there are so many places to sell Christmas cards: town fairs, school fetes, church fairs, car boot sales and local shops and businesses to name but a few options. If you're suitably set up, you can also sell your offerings online as well!

Needless to say, the take up rate for our online printing services here at A Local Printer goes through the roof at this time. This is chiefly because people looking to get Christmas cards printed prefer to stay in the warm and use printing services online rather than go out in the cold to see their local printers.

So why be cynical when you can take advantage of our high quality printing services and make yourself some extra cash for Christmas instead!

Printing by West Sussex Printer, A Local Printer Ltd.

The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) is the collective voice of the UK's paper based industries.  Some interesting facts show how far ahead the UK is in reducing the use of virgin pulp:-

The paper industry is a relatively small user of wood; only around 11% of the wood extracted from the world’s forests is used in paper and pulp production.
 
Of the fibres used to make paper in the UK, over 70% comes from paper collected for recycling by households and businesses. The rest comes mainly from virgin wood fibre from trees grown in sustainably managed forests.
 Between 1990 and 2010, the UK Papermaking Industry reduced total energy use by 34% per tonne of paper made, and annual emissions of fossil carbon dioxide by 1.6m tonnes or 42%.

A national survey conducted as part of Green Office Week has found that more than half of office employees in the UK would feel more positive at work if their employers were more supportive of their efforts to be green, and companies who made an effort to be environmentally responsible were more likely to have a happy and motivated workforce.
 
Companies may also be losing out on top staff if they do not address environmental issues. Sixty percent of those questioned said that they would be strongly influenced by a company's environmental credentials when applying for a job, with one in ten saying they would look for another job if they felt that their employer was not taking their environmental responsibility seriously enough.   

A Local Printer is proud to be featured in the Ethical Performance Directory - THE directory for CSR (corporate social responsibility) professional services.  We have been featured in/on the Ethical Performance Directory since it was launched and believe it offers an invaluable resource for all business that want to embrace responsible sourcing.  Many of our customers are also featured which is very gratifying, from recruitment companies to logistics providers. Find out more at www.ethicalperformance.com.