Members of the University may recently have read reports in the local and national press suggesting the imminent closure of the printing business of Cambridge University Press. The management of the Press is pleased to report that no such closure will occur, and to clarify the situation surrounding the reports.
This year, the University Press won the highest accolade in the UK printing industry, the Grand Prix in the Printing World Awards 2006. For some time, it has been recognized as being in the top echelon of printers in this country, producing work for museums, libraries, and art galleries, in addition to manufacturing the University's, Cambridge Assessment's, and its own publications. Nonetheless, the printing business operates in the context of significant overcapacity in the UK industry, and fierce competition from abroad.
Accordingly, in order to maintain its competitive position and to be able to invest in up-to-date machinery, it has been necessary to undertake a series of cost-cutting, rationalization, and efficiency measures in recent years. The final piece of this jigsaw was to reduce the cost of the printers' pension provision, for which the cost to the Press, at some 32% of payroll, was far in excess of the industry norm of some 5%. Management and the Amicus Union have been discussing a proposal to move all printing staff to the defined contribution plan in which all new Press staff have been participating for the past three years. This plan offers major savings to the printing business, while remaining superior to competitors' benefit plans.
Printing staff at Cambridge University Press have voted to accept proposals which will harmonize the pension arrangements of existing staff with that of new joiners. The decision aligns the Press pension scheme more closely with that of other industry schemes. An immediate benefit of the decision is that the Press has been able to confirm that it is investing in a £1.6m new ten-unit printing press, which will complement its existing suite of state-of-the-art book-printing machinery and give it a competitive advantage in terms of price and quality.
Sandra Ward, Managing Director of Cambridge Printing, and Stephen Bourne, Chief Executive of the Press, wish to record their gratitude to the printing directors and staff for their brave decision to accept these changes in their personal economic circumstances. It was a responsible reaction to the pressures that face all printing businesses in the UK, and one which will permit a continuation of Cambridge's great 422-year tradition of fine printing.