Berforts Press, the long-established print firm used by Comely Bank Publishing in recent years, finally closed its doors in November 2015 with a giant auction of all of its remaining plant. It's a blow to everyone – the workforce, obviously, but also to authors and publishers and to readers, too. No other printer matched their quality at the same price, and the unit cost of printing books might well now rise by 50%. It's hard not to see that being passed on to the customer. We've held our prices below those of our neighbouring publishers until now, but that might have to end.
It's not as if Berforts wasn't a viable concern, either. Their problems appeared to start with a large piece of refurbished printing gear (not used in paperback production) which hadn't taken well to being moved and refused to give reliable results. The resulting costs of redoing projects, together with the damage to reputation, proved terminal.
The irony is that, no sooner was Berforts put into administration than the fateful piece of machinery suddenly kicked into gear and ran trouble free until the day Berforts closed its doors, but by then it was too late.
Who says all's fair in business?
It's not as if Berforts wasn't a viable concern, either. Their problems appeared to start with a large piece of refurbished printing gear (not used in paperback production) which hadn't taken well to being moved and refused to give reliable results. The resulting costs of redoing projects, together with the damage to reputation, proved terminal.
The irony is that, no sooner was Berforts put into administration than the fateful piece of machinery suddenly kicked into gear and ran trouble free until the day Berforts closed its doors, but by then it was too late.
Who says all's fair in business?
