Following a successful audit by an independent certification body the Gemini Group has now been awarded the FSC and PEFC Certification.

For a clearer understanding of the FSC & PEFC principles please read on……

About FSC…. It is widely accepted that forest resources and associated lands should be managed to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations. Furthermore, growing public awareness of forest destruction and degradation has led consumers to demand that their purchases of wood and other forest products will not contribute to this destruction but rather help to secure forest resources for the future. In response to these demands, certification and self-certification programs of wood products have proliferated in the marketplace.The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international body which accredits certification organizations in order to guarantee the authenticity of their claims. In all cases the process of certification will be initiated voluntarily by forest owners and managers who request the services of a certification organization. The goal of FSC is to promote environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests, by establishing a worldwide standard of recognized and respected Principles of Forest Stewardship.  

The PEFC Council (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1999 which promotes sustainably managed forests through independent third party certification. The PEFC provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that they are promoting the sustainable management of forests.

PEFC is a global umbrella organisation for the assessment of and mutual recognition of national forest certification schemes developed in a multi-stakeholder process. These national schemes build upon the inter-governmental processes for the promotion of sustainable forest management, a series of on-going mechanisms supported by 149 governments in the world covering 85% of the world’s forest area.

PEFC has in its membership 32 independent national forest certification systems of which 25 to date have been through a rigorous assessment process involving public consultation and the use of independent consultants to provide the assessments on which mutual recognition decisions are taken by the membership. These 25 schemes account for over 190 million hectares of certified forests producing millions of tonnes of certified timber to the market place making PEFC the world’s largest certification scheme. The other national member’s schemes are at various stages of development and are working towards mutual recognition under the PEFC processes. http://www.pefc.org/

Edit, proof, print and buy online with our new e-procurement facility – GemStar.We can guarantee we will save you time and money; GemStar is one site accessible to all.

The new e-procurement system GemStar will enable companies to take control of their amending and ordering of items such as business cards and letterheads – often regarded as annoying but necessary part of all business activity.Clients can access their own personalised account via the web, where set artwork templates, including their logos will be in place. All the client has to do is amend what they want such as addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses or images and press go. Nigel Holmes, MD said: ‘We’re really excited about this new service and can’t wait to show potential clients how it works. For many companies, the issue of maintaining a consistency with their print is a major problem but our new system will eradicate this immediately. And with as little as 10% of any print costs being attributed to the actual print run, Nigel Holmes, believes the streamlining of the print purchasing process will also help those businesses with a large print run reduce their overheads.

The development of the e-procurement system like GemStar is becoming more important as companies and institutions recognise the benefits. A recent Office of Government Commerce’s guidelines suggest that all local governments should use an e-commerce system for procurement of supplies such as print.

To further explain the benefits of GemStar please call one of our sales team on 01273 464884

or request a brochure here enquiries

Beards Digital, Gemini Group’s newest member, is a huge asset to the group. Beards Digital was formed in 1952 and is now regarded as a forerunner in digital print across the region.The merger will see the company relocate to Shoreham-by-Sea, a move which will increase the Gemini Group’s digital capabilities. It will also see the group offer extra finishing facilities including perfect binding.
Commenting on the merger, Nigel Holmes, managing director of Gemini said: ‘The merger of Gemini with Beards makes perfect commercial sense. It will expand the group’s offer of digital print capabilities resulting in a huge upturn in business for both companies.’Julie Beard, managing director at Beards added: ‘The merging of Beards with Gemini will provide a strong offer for all print work not only in the South East but across the UK. Both businesses have an unrivalled track record in delivering quality and print on time and within budget. This is an exciting time for all concerned and we can’t wait to move.’ 

Gemini Press environmental certification ISO 14001

First published in 1996, ISO14001 is the internationally recognised standard for Environmental Management Systems and is aimed at introducing a continuous improvement process into a company’s drive to reduce its negative impact on the environment caused by energy usage and generation of waste.The prospect of undertaking ISO 14001 was daunting at first, but it soon became apparent we were doing the right thing - we just needed to document it. With the help from Phil Chambers, associate consultant of the BPIF we have implemented an environmental management system that works and what’s more it’s paperless!

For full information about ISO 14001 visit BPIF’s14001 article -  Nigel Holmes, Managing Director at Gemini said:

“The print industry often has a negative image mainly for the materials used in the printing process. At Gemini, we already have in place a number of procedures to help reduce the impact on the environment such as sourcing paper from sustainable forests and using vegetable based inks.A company’s environmental performance can have a significant impact on its success so to gain the ISO14001 certificate is a great achievement”.

Nigel continues

“In today’s competitive market many private companies and public sector institutions will only look at those that comply with the highest environmental standards. For example all material produced for the London Olympics has come from companies that have ISO14001”.With less than 5% of printers nationwide being ISO14001 accredited printers. Gemini Press is now in a very strong position pitching for new business. As well as generating significant cost savings over time, Gemini are also reducing their environmental impact.

Does ISO14001 play a part in your decision making process, when choosing your print provider?  ”Please comment on the blog  and let us know your views.

  Our aim is to try to resolve some of the issues that keep cropping up time after time when using Macs to prepare a print job. These pages will be updated when new problems arise even if there is currently no solution for it. If you have any further information on any of the Mac Help topics please post it up or email me 

• Acrobat issues and problems
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• Permissions keeping them up-to-date.
• Bouncing application icons, but app wont start up

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