Receiving customer feedback via our customer satisfaction survey is critical to our team, that’s why when we calculated the results from this year’s customer satisfaction survey, we were delighted to find out that our satisfaction score was 95%, despite a very challenging year for everyone involved in electoral administration.
For councils and printers, 2019 has been one of the most pressured years to date. The complexity of the local and parish elections, plus Brexit delays meant we had to react to the European Parliamentary, printing millions of poll cards, postal votes and ballot papers, within weeks of the poll date, 23 May 2019.
With this in mind, we are happy that we were able to satisfy our customers with our electoral administration. With intense time pressures involved in the European Parliamentary elections, the survey did highlight areas of improvement. These insights will form part of our continuous improvement for 2020.
The results of the survey were based on our electoral administration (print and mail service) during the 2019 local and parish elections and the European Parliamentary election.
Our customers were given the opportunity to provide their honest opinion about our service in several open-ended questions. Here’s a small selection of what they had to say: -
"Always extremely professional at all times, even under a great deal of pressure."
"Considering this was the first time that we used Print Image Network, and at very short notice prior to the election, I must say that the service was very professional and greatly appreciated."
"Having recently undertaken a print procurement tender process it is clear that Print Image Network provides a more extensive service, with high quality products and that the customer is at the heart of the service provided."
"Overall, I think Print Image was absolutely brilliant coping under the pressure of the additional election, I was really impressed, and it made our lives so much easier."
“As with the results of all our customer surveys, we are delighted to hear that customers were satisfied with our service. However, we do intend to look at areas we can further improve upon.” Says John Foster, Managing Director at Print Image Network.
Service Director, Stephen Power, added “The sheer amount of extra human hours required to plan, administer and produce products for the local and parish elections, plus the Snap European Parliamentary has been unprecedented. The whole team, especially account managers, worked tirelessly to deliver a service that was representative of Print Image Network.”
On behalf of the entire team, Managing Director, John Foster and Services Director, Stephen Power, would like to thank all Print Image Network customers for their continued working relationships. In addition, they would also like to thank its staff, who worked tirelessly to ensure its customers were as satisfied as much as possible.
For more information about our growing electoral administration print and mail service, please contact on 0161 209 4800 or email sales@printimagenetwork.com
To continue to provide a first-class service to local authorities across the country, we have expanded our electoral print account management team.
We welcome three new account managers to our team, all based at our North-West headquarters. As a holder of the Cabinet Office’s Customer Service Excellence Standard, we are committed to providing the best customer service for our local authority customers across the country. The expansion of our team will support our commitment to customers, who expect the best possible support for elections and canvass.
New team members Adam Keane, Graham Williams, and Stuart Whittaker all have backgrounds in account management within the print and communication sector and bring with them an excellent knowledge of the printing process and wealth of experience in managing customer projects.
“We are extremely pleased to expand the electoral print account management team at Print Image Network and welcome Adam, Graham, and Stuart to the team. This year has been unprecedented in terms of the pressure put on electoral administrators and suppliers due to the unpredictable and changing political landscape. Among other skills and qualities, the niche market of electoral print and mail requires account managers who are accurate, organised and calm under pressure” Says Simon Milnes, Commercial Manager at Print Image Network. “Each one of our new recruits has these skills; we are confident they will deliver the level of service our customers are used to.” He continued.
We, of course, are not wasting any time getting our new starters acquainted with the fast-paced world of electoral print. Adam, Graham, and Stuart each have their own account portfolio and are fully up to speed with our range of products including our award-winning postal vote solutions.
The new starters will be briefed on the output from the recent canvass reform day, hosted by the AEA, which was attended by three members of our team. They will also be attending the AEA annual conference next year, where they will get to meet customers face-to-face in Blackpool.
Having rolled-out our core company values earlier this year, our new recruits all demonstrate values that mirror our own. We are positive Adam, Graham, and Stuart will carry out their roles with dedication and a commitment to Print Image Network and our core values - efficiency, commitment, knowledge, professionalism, and trust.
For more information about our growing electoral print account management team and our commitment to customer service, please contact on 0161 209 4800 or email sales@printimagenetwork.com
Print Image Network Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of electoral print and mail services, will be joining local authorities and industry experts from across the country at the AEA’s focus day to discuss canvass reform on Monday 9 September 2019.
In 2020 the way in which the annual canvass is conducted will be transformed. The purpose of the reform is to reduce the administrative burden on EROs and to make the process more citizen focused.
The focus day aims to provide delegates with vital updates and information to allow them to prepare for the reform from July 2020.
Key highlights of the day include: -
With a strong heritage in electoral print and mail spanning 20 years, Print Image Network is one of the most experienced suppliers in the country. Fully conversant in all electoral legislation and with close links to the Electoral Commission, Cabinet Office, and AEA, the electoral print specialist is one of the country’s experts in this niche marketplace and well-placed to advise council’s on how to manage the print aspect of reform.
John Foster, Managing Director at Print Image Network commented on attending the canvass reform focus day. “As one of the most established providers in the industry, we are confident that our expertise and support will assist local authorities through the new canvass reform. Our experienced team will be on hand at Stand 15 to discuss practical measures for reform and how we can play our part in making the new structure effective for EROs and councils.”
Services Director, Stephen Power added “As a customer-centric supplier it is important that we attend on the day, so our customers know that we want to help them as much as possible with their canvass reform journey. Ever since we started 20 years ago, Print Image Network has offered a service that helps and supports customers as well as delivering print. Our team is committed to helping customers through this period.”
The Association of Electoral Administrators will hold the canvass reform focus day on 9 September 2019 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. Delegates can visit Print Image Network at Stand 15, where in addition to canvass reform, the team will reveal plans for its 2020 May election service and talk through the efficiencies they are implementing for PCC, local, mayoral and GLA Assembly elections, as well as the contingencies in place for the rest of the year.
Print Image Network’s Commercial Manager, Simon Milnes, explains why publishing and commercial companies are choosing to use a paper magazine wrap solution to deliver magazines and supplements.
For many years polywrap has been the material of choice for wrapping magazines, catalogues and direct mail. Lightweight, strong and weather-resistant it is extremely effective for keeping different mail pieces together in one combined pack. However, more and more organisations are seeking options which are eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives, such as paper.
“With a current backlash against single-use plastics and the problems surrounding recycling, we’re seeing an increased number of organisations approaching us to discuss alternatives, such as paper magazine wrap.” Says Simon Milnes, Commercial Manager at Print Image Network.
“As a responsible print management company, it’s our business to offer clients more sustainable ways to wrap magazines.”
Print Image Network has one of the largest printing networks in the country and prints everything from electoral stationery to direct mail. “As printing experts, we know that paper magazine wrap isn’t a new solution, however, it is being more widely used because of the resistance to use plastic of any kind. There are multiple benefits for organisations,” says Simon.
Benefits of paper magazine wrap:
1. Sustainable product: eco-friendly and recyclable (supports ISO14001)
The paper used for our paper magazine wrap solution is FSC and PEFC certified. Unlike polywrap, paper wrap packaging is easily recycled after use. Therefore, its sustainable lifecycle will support any environmental commitments associated with CSR policies or ISO14001 efforts.
2. Endless design and promotional opportunities on the outer wrap
Paper magazine wrap can accommodate any design a client desires, as long as the areas for postal addresses and the postal indicia adhere to Royal Mail’s postage requirements. From plain block colours to intricate designs and photos, the possibilities are endless.
3. Combined mailing savings (separate mailings in one pack)
Wrapping multiple communications means that postage is only paid once rather multiple times. Polywrap and/or envelope savings can be made as they won’t be required.
4. Can accommodate different size communications (such as A4 and A5)
Typical wraps are A4 and A5, however, our solution can wrap the largest insert if it a bespoke size, enclosing all other inserts neatly into the pack.
5. Machines can accommodate up to 9 different inserts per pack
Paper magazine wrap can fill your pack with up to 9 different inserts.
6. Individual inserts can be personalised
With paper wrap all nine inserts can be personalised, if required.
7. Packs are eligible for Royal Mail’s (cost-effective) Mailmark® service
Paper wrap packs are easier to process by Royal Mails machines (polywrap and eco-alternatives are not) and therefore is subject to the cheaper Mailsort options, which reduce postal costs.
Simon concluded, “It’s no surprise that organisations that have a strong conservation ethos are looking at paper wrap as an alternative solution to polywrap. However, we are getting enquiries from all types of organisations who are exploring the switch in a response to reader feedback, readers who don’t want to see plastic used at all.”
If you are interested in switching to a paper magazine wrap solution, please contact the team at Print Image Network.
Electoral stationery provider, Print Image Network, has held the Customer Service Excellence Standard since 2012. Each year the business gets assessed to see if it still meets the criteria set out by the standard.
Following our recent visit, we are pleased to announce that we passed the assessment with an incredible 13 Compliance-Plus awards.
Customer Service Excellence is a government backed industry standard that assesses whether services are efficient, effective, excellent, equitable and empowering, using 57 different criteria. It ensures organisations always put their customers at the heart of their operations. Print Image Network is the only electoral stationery provider in the UK to hold the standard.
Compliance-Plus relates to areas where we surpass the standard required. These are areas where we show innovation, or where we are considered sector leaders. In the past we have successfully gained Compliance Plus in areas such as customer insight and Corporate Social Responsibility. However, with so many significant customer-facing projects being undertaken by the business, we wanted to highlight many different areas of progress.
We have surpassed the customer service standard for our electoral services in the following areas: -
In 2018 a company-wide project began to articulate what we believed our core company values were After a six-month project, the staff at UK Engage defined five core values – commitment, efficiency, knowledge, professionalism and trust. The CSE assessor was delighted to learn that we had implemented this project and is keen to see how it has developed in 12-months time.
“This has been an excellent surveillance 1 visit for
electoral stationery provider, Print Image Network (13 Compliance Plus awards) and I would like to thank the organisation its staff, customers, partners and stakeholders for their time during this assessment. I look forward to completing surveillance 2 in January 2020."
Mick Lynch - CSE Assessor
Our values journey:
In 2018, Print Image Network embarked on a project to confirm our core values. We believed that our values were best determined by those who embody them – our employees. Therefore, all employees were asked to participate in determining the company’s five core values; values that we consider to be part of our DNA.
Through a series of surveys, our employees were invited to consider a list of principles they believed best represented our company and what we stand for. Following this exercise, we organised a number of collaborative workshops where employees were brought together to openly discuss the initial findings. From these exercises, our values were revealed.
Our five core values:
Throughout the exercises, there was consistency among employees as to what they believed we stood for, which were commitment, efficiency, professionalism, knowledge and trust.
With our five core values defined, we are now embarking on the journey to live and breathe them throughout the organisation. This includes having the visible throughout our offices, on our screen savers and acknowledging values-related behaviour and results with the introduction of our values awards.
"Our ambition is to create a company-wide common and shared understanding around our five core values, translating them into professional behaviours and entrenching them in the way we work with each other, customers, suppliers, partners, and stakeholders,” says Stephen Power, Services Director and values ambassador.
Values, people and service
Of course, the ultimate satisfaction that comes with finally defining our values is how they benefit employees and customers. As a proud owner of the Investors in People (Silver) accreditation and the Cabinet Office’s Customer Service Excellence standard, our people and our customers are what make our business. Through our investment in our employees, we aim to help them to feel valued, engaged and rewarded, which can only be beneficial to our customers.
“Each year, following our annual customer satisfaction survey, we are always humbled by the kind comments our customers provide. It is interesting to see the correlation between the feedback we receive from our customers and the values our employees believe to be true. It really shows that we are living our values and have been doing so for many years,” says John Foster, Managing Director.
Print Image Network launched our core values to our local authority customers at the annual AEA Conference, 3rd-6th February 2019.
Since it was announced that Royal Mail’s Mailmark service could no longer be used to mail poll cards, there has been lots of talk about Royal Mail’s ‘Poll Sort’ service for poll cards mailings.
In essence, Poll Sort or PCMO (Poll Card Mailing Option), is similar to the previous Walksort product, where mail is sorted and bundled into postal walks. Its specification means electoral services providers must meet the criteria set out by Royal Mail in order to achieve ‘Poll Sort’ for the May polls.
The introduction of the service has provoked debate over the weight (grammage) of card and thickness (microns) of card to use. The team at Print Image Network has been assuring customers that we will carry out every process without changes to our usual procedure and we don’t intend to alter previous methods of working for our customers.
John Foster, Managing Director, said of meeting the new Royal Mail criteria. “As one of the leading electoral print and mail specialists in the country, we have developed our Poll Card Mailing Options, which we will happily discuss with all councils, should they wish to contact the team to see how we intend to approach this for the May polls.” He continued, “As always, we want to ensure that our customers are not inconvenienced in any way. Their key priority is having problem-free elections with a printer they can trust.”
‘Poll Sort’ has been hotly debated by the Electoral Commission, the Cabinet Office and the Association for Electoral Administrators, in conjunction with the electoral print providers. The message that Print Image Network is keen to get over to customers ahead of the annual AEA Conference in Brighton, 3-7th February is that they will: -
To discuss Poll Card Mailing Options with the Print Image Team, please visit Stand 12 if you plan the visit the AEA Conference or call 0161 209 4800. Alternatively, you can email sales@printimagenetwork.com
Print Image Network is once again exhibiting at the annual AEA Conference in Brighton, 3 -6th February 2019. As a leading provider of electoral print solutions, we have supported the Conference and the AEA for many years and once again will be on hand to offer help and advice to electoral administrators from councils across the UK.
The agenda promises a full schedule, including new workshops, not to mention the exhibition where we will be meeting delegates and customers at Stand 12 from the Sunday afternoon.
Providing no fewer than 70 councils across the UK with electoral print solutions, we still have capacity for the May polls and delegates can speak to members of the team to discuss printed postal vote solutions, ballots papers and poll cards – where we can discuss with specificity our ‘poll sort’ poll card mailing options.
We will also have a full range of our grass skirt count solution items. As 2019 will present more multi-seat elections, we are getting lots of requests for our ‘25’ and ’10’ grass skirts. Our Small-10 and Large-10 skirts accommodate 10 ballot papers across and 3- 10 candidates down (plus one line for unused votes). Our Small-25 and Large-25 skirts accommodate 25 ballot papers across and 3-23 candidates down (plus one line for used votes). Our solution also includes summary sheet to suit the 10 & 23 candidate skirts. Plus, we have an excellent grass skirt training video which is available free to councils who purchase grass skirts.
Also, this year we will be launching our core values. As 2018 was a quieter year on the election front, we decided to formally define and publish our core values, which hopefully you will recognise us for. Through a series of surveys and workshops our employees selected the values they believe are inherent in our company. Come along to Stand 12 and find out how our values - Commitment, Efficiency, Knowledge, Professionalism and Trust can benefit your council in stressful election conditions.
We have lots to discuss, so please feel free to come along and speak with the team. You can enter our chocolate hamper competition and you could win an Echo Dot 3rd Generation which is our raffle prize at the Annual Dinner.
We look forward to seeing you at Conference!
You can check out our AEA Profile here>>
Selecting the right electoral print and mail partner is of critical importance to UK local authorities. Increasingly, electoral print and mail suppliers are being invited to respond to tenders to explain the credentials they have for carrying out specialist and niche print requirements.
The majority of tenders to which we respond, ask for evidence of any particular accreditation's, standards and awards, as by having these helps to provide certain reassurances and reduces business risk.
Working with an ISO-certified electoral print and mail specialist means that its products and services are certified and conform to the minimum standards set internationally, which is important when considering an electoral print and mail provider for Government elections.
The vast majority of responses require ISO 9001 as it demonstrates that our business has the correct quality structures in place to be considered. Likewise, in an age where data security is paramount, holding ISO 27001, is equally important.
The ISO 9001 certification is internationally recognised as the most established quality framework, focused on increasing efficiencies, preventing errors and improving customer service. In the provision of electoral print and mail services, this translates to the assurance that the production of all election stationary, be it postal vote applications, postal votes, ballot papers, poll cards, HEFs, ITRs, confirmation letters and absent voter personal identifiers, is to the highest standard, undertaken by experienced staff, under robust security measures. Tenders will often be awarded to organisations which hold this standard.
Another key ISO certification that is important in the provision of electoral print and mail is ISO 27001. Organisations that have this certification can demonstrate to local authorities that they have a framework for securing and protecting confidential, personal and sensitive data, through effective technology, which is a crucial requirement, especially in the compliance of GDPR.
Print Image Network is ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 27001:2013 certified
In Summer 2018, we had our re-certification assessment and we are pleased to say that a successful transition was made to ISO9001: 2015. We maintained our management system in line with the requirements of the standard and demonstrated that we have the ability to systematically achieve the requirements for products and or services, within the scope of our activities and in accordance with our policy and objectives.
Being certified to ISO 9001 & ISO 27001 highlights our ongoing commitment to quality and integrity in the provision of electoral print and mail to local authorities. To discuss how our accreditation's can benefit your business, please contact us on 0161 209 4800 or email us at sales@printimagenetwork.com
To supplement these accreditation's, we also hold Investors in People (Silver), The Cabinet Office’s Customer Service Excellence Standard and Cyber Essentials.
For electoral print and mail provider, Print Image Network, 2017 was a great year for customer service-related accreditations and recognition. We’re pleased to report that we have continued this success into 2018.
Following our third ‘full’ assessment, we have maintained our Customer Service Excellence Standard for demonstrating evidence of exceptional customer service. The full assessment, which happens every three years, comprises a comprehensive submission to the assessor, followed by an onsite assessment, where staff are interviewed in relation to five key areas:-
Our recent pass follows our Investor’s in People re-assessment in 2017, which saw us achieve the Silver Standard, exceeding the industry average in all nine of the performance indicators. The renewal of the Customer Service Excellence Standard further highlights our commitment to our customer-centric ethos.
Steve Power, Services Director and Print Image Network's Customer Service Excellence Ambassador, said of the assessment news “We are delighted that we have passed our third full assessment. Maintaining the Standard since 2012 is the result of hard work and commitment from the team. Our council customers trust us to help them through stressful and sometimes complex election periods, our latest pass confirms the procedures and systems we have in place allow us to provide trusted support and excellent service when customers most need it."
Customer Service Excellence Assessor, Michael Lynch, gave the following statement, "I have assessed Print Image Network Ltd for Customer Service Excellence several times and on my last visit I continued to be very impressed by their attention to detail and customer-centric focus. The team works very well together and as a result well-coordinated customer service is achieved."
He continued "I spoke to several customers during the visit and they were effervescent in their praise in relation to the service that they received from Print Image Network Ltd."
Print Image Network has many exciting initiatives planned for 2018 to further enhance the customer experience.
If you want to find out more about our Customer Service Excellence Standard or our Investors in People accreditation, please download our document ‘Working Together’ Investors in People and Customer Service Excellence: Our customer service journey >>
