Sotheby's Imprint pledges Heidelberg exclusivity for offset work

The company, which recently licensed its brand with Sotheby’s auction house, has been building its global network, Premier Platform, on the premise of using suppliers with Heidelberg XL machines.

SI vice president Skip Dyer said: "We want to build a consistent platform around the world with top quality technology in place to produce reliable and repeatable work with colour fidelity."

He said it was "critically important" for potential suppliers to have a Speedmaster XL available, the preferred press for SI’s offset network.

Heidelberg is playing an active role in the alliance by supporting SI to source suppliers for local jobs around the world. The relationship will no doubt be mutually beneficial for the companies, as SI’s presence in the graphic arts industry grows globally and encourages printers to stock up on Heidelberg equipment.

Heidelberg USA president Harald Weimer said: "Sotheby’s Imprint is in a unique position to influence remarkable change within the print category."

Dyer said the Sotherby's Imprint brand had grown to encompass local networks in around 90 countries since licensing its name, claiming that it "surpasses most brand recognition across the graphic arts industry".

He added: "We are acknowledging a gap in the market – historically, there would be only one choice for customers, which was time-consuming and expensive. Now we can set-up work to be produced and distributed locally.

"We are not building a network for the sake of it. The hurdles we put our suppliers through are not insignificant, we will only investigate them if we think they can really produce viable work for our clients."

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