With the introduction of IER, 2014 was a busy year for local authorities and electoral services providers alike. The replacement of the old ‘household registration’ system in place of IER - Individual Electoral Registration proved unfamiliar territory for all involved.
In January 2015, following the main initial IER roll-out, Print Image Network decided to send out a customer satisfaction survey to customers. The purpose of the survey was to understand how its service was received by customers during IER, which was described as ‘the biggest change to voter registration in a generation’ by the Cabinet Office.
The results pleased the electoral printing specialist as they confirmed that customers had indeed been satisfied with the service they received during IER. The results also contributed to Print Image Network’s successful three-year Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation reassessment; something that no other election provider has achieved.
Services Director, Stephen Power commented about the survey results “To achieve great feedback from our customers during what has proven to be a very challenging experience for local authorities and service providers throughout the UK, makes us extremely proud. The CSE accreditation is only awarded to companies which drive customer-focused change within their organisations, this is something that the team at Print Image Network works very hard to do.”
Highlights from the IER-related survey include:
• Overall satisfaction: 100% of customers were ‘extremely satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the service they received throughout the IER transition
• Sales & Account Management: Scores for the sales contacts and account managers were either ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ – both ranked highly for their responsiveness to customers
• Products: 100% of customers thought its products were of ‘high quality’ and believed that the application of the IER templates was ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’
Managing Director, John Foster was also pleased at the survey results. “Historically our customers have told us they receive an excellent service from us, therefore we felt it was important to understand if we had managed to maintain our high service levels during the complexities of the IER transition. I'm delighted to say, we did.”
Print Image Network will get its full CSE assessment scores during the next few months.
Print Image Network Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of local authority electoral printing services, will once again be joining local authorities from across the country at the Annual Conference for the Association of Electoral Administrators, 1-4 February 2015. The specialist electoral printing company will attend as both a conference delegate and exhibitor, showcasing products at Stand 12 throughout the four day event.
With a strong heritage in electoral services including the design, print, fulfilment and postage of canvass materials, poll cards, postal voting packs and ballot papers, Print Image Network is one of the best-placed specialists in the country to handle issues due to be discussed at the event.
The four-day event welcomes an array of expert speakers to the plenary sessions including Toby James, a senior lecturer in British and Comparative Politics who will open the conference and Sam Gyimah, MP Minister for the Constitution who will deliver the keynote speech.
John Foster, Managing Director of Print Image Network said of the forthcoming conference “2015 will be a crucial year for electoral administration with individual registration well under way and UK Parliamentary General Election and other combined elections taking place. Print Image Network welcomes another opportunity in the electoral services calendar to discuss the issues that are likely to arise over the next year and to subsequently work with councils to address them.”
Services Director, Stephen Power added “Managing the complexities that Parliamentary, local elections and electoral registration bring can be especially testing for local authorities. We know that our customers depend on us to help steer them through their busy election periods. Planning the print schedule for combined postal votes and poll cards, plus ballot papers, not to mention numerous registration mailings and other ancillary products during a Parliamentary Election year is no mean feat, yet our experienced account management team handle this with true professionalism each and every time.”
The Association of Electoral Administrators Conference is being held 1-4 February 2015 at Brighton Metropole Hotel, Brighton.
Print Image Network Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of local authority electoral printing services, will sponsor the Elections Conference 2015 on 15 January 2015. The Elections Conference is an annual event for returning officers and senior managers from UK local authority councils who are accountable for managing the election process.
With a strong heritage in electoral services including the design, print, fulfilment and postage of canvass materials, poll cards, postal voting packs and ballot papers, Print Image Network works with more than 80 local authorities throughout the UK. The company is excited to sponsor the event for the second year as it addresses prominent issues that affect its customers.
The one-day event welcomes an array of prestigious speakers to discuss a number of key challenges facing returning officers and senior managers. Dr Clive Grace OBE, Secretary of the SOLACE Foundation will open and close the conference with Sam Gyimah MP, Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office delivering the keynote session. In addition, Print Image Network is especially pleased that Tony Slater, Head of Elections at the company will be delivering one of the afternoon sessions - Digitising Elections.
John Foster, Managing Director of Print Image Network said of the forthcoming conference “2015 will be a key year for returning officers and their staff, the May Parliamentary Election and local elections will present great challenges for all involved. At Print Image Network it is our job to assist local authorities as much as possible with the challenges they face, this year we will continue to do so with our flexible and responsive approach to election administration.”
Services Director, Stephen Power added "Managing the complexities that Parliamentary, local elections and electoral registration bring can be especially testing for local authorities. In order to fully assist our customers to the best of our ability we work closely with the Cabinet Office and the AEA, our commitment to the Electoral Commission Working Group is also vital to understanding the future challenges that local authorities face.”
The Elections Conference is being held on 15 January 2015 at Broadway House, London and is organised by SOLACE Enterprises.
Print Image Network, the leading provider of electoral services to Local Authorities in the UK, has been awarded the Investors in People Standard for a fourth year, demonstrating its commitment to realising the potential of its people.
The company, which celebrated its 14th birthday in June 2014, is based in the North West and has a loyal customer base of Local Authorities which spans the length and breadth of the country.
Investors in People is the UK's leading accreditation for business improvement through people management, and provides a wealth of resources for businesses to innovate, improve and grow, with a focus on good people making great business.
Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said: “Achieving the Investors in People Standard is something that any organisation should be truly proud of. Working with Investors in People inspires and enables leaders, managers and employees at all levels to build their skills, improve their performance and achieve their potential. We’d like to congratulate Print Image Network on its achievement.”
Steve Burrows, Managing Director of Investors in People North of England said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Print Image Network and I would like to congratulate the team on its success. We believe that good people make a great business and as a proven organisational development framework, Investors in People is designed to help organisations and their people to realise potential, enhance performance and meet goals. With its accreditation success, Print Image Network is certainly working to realise their people potential.”
Commenting on the award, Services Director at Print Image, Steve Power said: “For any business to grow during uncertain economic times is an achievement, Print Image Network has managed to achieve this because of its commitment to service excellence, which is a direct result of our staff.” He continued, “Our employees are our most valuable asset and as a business we intend to continue to empower our workforce so that we can achieve our future goals.”
For more information about Investors in People please visit www.investorsinpeople.co.uk. For more information, please contact Clara Robinson on 0161 209 4800 or email clara@printimagenetwork.com
About Investors in People (IIP)
Print Image Network's is awarded the Investors in People Award
As Print Image Network Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of Local Authority electoral printing services, is busy preparing customers for the IER transition, there has been little time to sit back and reflect on some of the positive feedback received by customers following the recent European and local elections.
2014 has been a challenging year for Local Authorities across the UK and councils and suppliers alike have worked together to ensure the election period was managed in a timely and professional manner. During this period Print Image Network has supported customers by printing long ballot papers, poll cards, postal packs and ancillary products such as wristbands and queue cards, to ensure polling stations were equipped to deal with the electorate come Election Day.
“Print Image Network works tirelessly to ensure customers receive a first-class service, it is one aspect of our service of which we are most proud,” says John Foster, Managing Director. “Customers have expressed to us the pressure that has been felt due to combined elections, delayed canvass and IER, at Print Image it is our philosophy to assist our customers as much as possible to help alleviate some of the pressure felt during particularly busy periods. Our dedicated account team works incredibly hard to deliver this service to our customers and we are delighted to see that it is appreciated.”
The feedback received included comments such as “The overall printing of poll cards, postal packs and ballot papers has been first-class” and “The printing was excellent, delivered on time and the service was exemplary.” Comments that were further appreciated by Service Director, Steve Power, who added “We knew 2014 would be a challenging year, the staff at Print Image worked extremely hard to deliver jobs under extreme pressure, so to receive these comments has been extremely rewarding to the management and staff at our company. We would like to thank all our customers for their continued service.”
Print Image Network is now working with customers across England and Wales to deliver IER printing such as HEFs, ITRs and confirmation letters.
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About Print Image Network Ltd
Print Image Network Limited is an award-winning provider of electoral printing services to local authorities throughout the UK. It delivers a range of products and services for a variety of companies in both the private and public sector, specialising in Government electoral services including design, print, fulfilment and postal services to no less than 80 UK local authorities nationwide. Print Image Network’s offices are in Stockport, Cheshire.
Print Image Network Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of Local Authority electoral printing services, has been preparing to help customers as the IER transition approaches.
As CLR dates are fast-approaching for councils across England and Wales, Electoral Services Managers are turning to Print Image Network to help prepare for IER. The huge pressures of European and local elections, just weeks before the transition date has meant that many customers have welcomed the fact that we are proactive in helping develop forms, letters and envelopes. Our approach to form preparation, solutions for printing scenarios and pricing is helping customers plan for their CLR dates, post 22 May.
Print Image Network has kept a close eye on the IER developments, and through our links with the Cabinet Office and the Electoral Commission we are conversant with the legislation relating to IER forms, letters and envelopes, this means we are able to work with our customers to overcome the print and distribution complexities involved in the IER transition.
Preparing for different scenarios we have developed print solutions to handle long and short print runs of A3 HEFs and ITRs, and A4 confirmation letters. The initial launch and reminder stages of IER will generate large print runs of HEFs, ITRs and confirmation letters which we will handle in the same professional manner as the previous canvass work. Our approach is to utilise the standard forms issued by the Electoral Commission and will tailor (where legislation allows) to suit your councils requirements and can take receipt of your data using our secure methods of transfer. Forms can be mailed using the best postal rates or sent for canvasser delivery.
For the councils that don’t have an in-house solution to manage small volume, ad-hoc runs of HEFs and ITRs, we propose our ‘Group Run’ solution which works on a collaborative print run basis with other councils. This approach means that you can avoid small, frequent print runs and benefit from cost savings by avoiding one-off print set-up fees for small jobs.
Finally, we have two solutions for your ad-hoc A4 confirmation letters. We can print using the ‘Group Run’ solution or councils can download our Network Post printer driver. Network Post is a pay-as-you-mail solution to A4 printing that requires little effort on the customer’s part. Confirmation letter mailings are generated in-house at your Local Authority but printed and mailed at our secure facility, taking the time consuming tasks of printing, filling and franking away from you.
John Foster, Managing Director of Print Image Network commented on the company’s approach “We have known for some time that the complexities of the IER transition would result in customers looking to us for support, that’s why we are developing forms and letters with our customers in anticipation of their CLR dates.” He continued, ‘If we know a customer’s requirements we can quickly begin to develop a print production schedule to fit in with their CLR dates ensuring this fits with the nationwide advertising campaign. We endeavour to help as many Local Authorities through the IER transition as possible.”
About Print Image Network Ltd
Print Image Network Limited is an award-winning provider of electoral printing services to local authorities throughout the UK. It delivers a range of products and services for a variety of companies in both the private and public sector, specialising in Government electoral services including design, print, fulfilment and postal services to no less than 80 UK local authorities nationwide. Print Image Network’s offices are in Stockport, Cheshire. For more information, visit the company’s website www.printimagenetwork.com.
Print Image Network Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of local authority electoral printing services, is due to launch a new service at the Association of Electoral Administrators Conference, 2 -5 March 2014.
Network Post is the latest addition to Print Image Network’s print service portfolio and has been designed to assist local authorities with small non-complex, A4 mailings. The service allows local councils to free-up internal resource during busy election periods as Individual Electoral Registration (IER), European and local elections fast-approach, by printing, compiling and posting mailings on their behalf.
Network Post allows local councils to delegate the print management of small ad-hoc mailings such as confirmation letters, postal vote applications, UC1s and IER confirmation letters. The system lets users produce A4 mailings on their desktop and with one click sends them to a secure, centralised facility where Print Image Network will continue the print and posting element of the job. This allows council staff to get on with more productive tasks.
John Foster, Managing Director of Print Image Network said of the new print and mailing service “At Print Image we understand that 2014 will present a number of challenges to our customers and that’s why, as well managing large print runs of more complex mailings such as HEFs and ITRs we have introduced Network Post which helps customers manage their smaller, less complex print runs”. He continued “A mailshot may seem a simple task to carry out, however when you add up the components sometimes the simplest job can take an entire morning or afternoon out of a work day. This service will help our customers better manage their internal resource allowing for a more productive work day”.
With no set-up costs and just a simple printer driver download needed to start printing, the electoral printing specialists are launching the service at the forthcoming AEA conference in March where local authorities will be able to see first-hand how the new service works.
Services Director, Steve Power is confident local councils will see the benefits “With such a big responsibility placed on local councils this year our customers will need the input of their staff more than ever. Network Post can alleviate some of the time pressures encountered by mailing jobs and save money at the same time. Printing a mailshot has lots of costs associated with it from tangibles such as paper, printers, toner and envelopes to those intangible costs which include staff time. Network Post can print and mail a basic mailing for less than the cost of a second-class stamp and that can add up to significant savings, depending on the type of mailing”.
The AEA Conference is held on 2 – 5 March 2014 at the Hilton hotel, Blackpool.
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About Print Image Network Ltd
Print Image Network Limited is an award-winning provider of electoral printing services to local authorities throughout the UK. It delivers a range of products and services for a variety of companies in both the private and public sector, specialising in Government electoral services including design, print, fulfilment and postal services to no less than 80 UK local authorities nationwide. Print Image Network’s offices are in Stockport, Cheshire. For more information, visit the company’s website www.printimagenetwork.com
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Clara Robinson, Marketing Manager or visit our Network Post website www.networkpost.co.uk
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Contact |
Clara Robinson, Marketing Manager |
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Telephone |
0161 209 4800 |
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clara@printimagenetwork.com |
With Individual Electoral Registration dates confirmed for England, Wales and Scotland the electoral registration changeover means local councils can begin to plan activity with a clearer understanding of the technical print requirements of IER forms.
Following the Cabinet Office supplier meeting on 23 January 2014 Print Image Network has further clarity on the format of confirmation letters, ITR and HEF forms and is currently working with customers to discuss the technical production of the A3 forms. We have also welcomed new customers on-board to assist them through the change.
Our production plan is in place to meet confirmed schedules but as the dates draw closer the nearer we become to print production capacity. Therefore, if authorities do find themselves in need of assistance in the next couple of months our advice is to contact us as soon as you can.
Print Image Network will have updates on Welsh forms and IER forms of the end of January 2014.
If you need assistance with IER please contact us on 0161 209 4800 or send an email to sales@printimagenetwork.com, we will be on-hand to help steer you through this transition period.
Whereas Individual Electoral Registration is new to everyone European Elections are commonplace to Print Image Network Ltd, and this year is no different. We have been working with local councils across England to resolve outstanding technical printing challenges relating to the 2014 long ballot papers. So far we are handling requirements for 10 out of 11 voting regions and we are one of the few electoral specialists who can print European ballot papers to accommodate up to 27 candidates.
The ballot paper has changed from 2009 but we are working with councils and the Cabinet Office to comply with latest legislation. Following the Cabinet Office meeting of 23 January 2014 we can now advise customers that there is no law about the width but it is preferred that the width does not differ within a region. The placement of the official mark can go anywhere but most customers are opting for top left or right on the front, although a number also want it on the reverse.
With such a busy year for elections Print Image Network is advising local councils that have yet to book their requirements with a specialist printer to do so as soon as possible. The closer we get to May 2014 the busier we become, so if you need assistance to manage your requirements please contact us today.
Telephone 0161 209 4800 or send an email to sales@printimagenetwork.com
Print Image Network Ltd, one of the UK’s leading providers of local authority electoral printing services, will sponsor the Elections Conference 2014 on 16 January 2013. The Elections Conference is an annual event for returning officers and senior managers from UK local authority councils who are accountable for managing the election process.
With a strong heritage in electoral services including the design, print, fulfilment and postage of canvass materials, poll cards, postal voting packs, ballot papers and packs, Print Image Network works with more than 80 local authorities throughout the UK. The company is thrilled to sponsor the event for the first time as it addresses prominent issues that affect its customers.
The one-day event welcomes some prestigious speakers to discuss a number of the key challenges facing returning officers and senior managers. Dr Clive Grace OBE, Secretary of the SOLACE Foundation will open and close the conference, Rt. Hon Greg Clark MP, Minister of State for Cabinet Office will deliver a keynote session, and Paul Morris – Electoral Registration & Returning Officer, Borough of Poole Council will hold the session relating to European Elections.
John Foster, Managing Director of Print Image Network said of the forthcoming conference “2014 will be a key year for returning officers and their staff; the combination of local elections, European Elections and the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) will present new challenges. We have already seen an increased number of customers looking to us for advice on how to prepare for the year ahead.”
As sponsors and delegates Print Image Network will have the opportunity to attend the conference sessions throughout the day, which Services Director, Steve Power believes is crucial. “At Print Image we know that our customers depend on us to help steer them through their busy election periods, to us flexibility and responsiveness are of the utmost importance.” He continued, “We know that to remain at the forefront of this industry we must understand the challenges our customers’ face, that’s why attending events like the Elections Conference and being members of the AEA and the Electoral Commission Working Group is key to understanding future challenges.”
The Elections Conference is held on 16 January 2014 at Broadway House, London and is organised by SOLACE Enterprises.
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About Print Image Network Ltd
Print Image Network Limited is an award-winning provider of electoral printing services to local authorities throughout the UK. It delivers a range of products and services for a variety of companies in both the private and public sector, specialising in Government electoral services including design, print, fulfilment and postal services to no less than 80 UK local authorities nationwide. Print Image Network’s offices are in Stockport, Cheshire. For more information, visit the company’s website www.printimagenetwork.com
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Clara Robinson, Marketing Manager.
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Contact | Clara Robinson, Marketing Manager |
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Telephone | 0161 209 4800 |
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| clara@printimagenetwork.com |
