Print Buying

M and M Direct is a sportswear and fashion catalogue that features brand apparel for men, women and children. The Herefordshire-based company has been trading for 20 years and mails out 20 different magazines per year totalling nearly 17m copies.

Because M and M buys end-of-line stock from brands such as Nike, Adidas and Ben Sherman, it is able to offer discounted stock.

Cherill Mends is M and M Direct's sole print buyer. She has been at M and M for 14 years, but has been its print buyer for five years. The main item M and M prints is a catalogue, which changes design and content several times per year depending on season and offers.

Along with the catalogue, M and M also produces flyers, letters and cards, all designed to inform customers and potential customers of the company's latest offers.

M and M uses two main printers to produce its catalogue, Polestar Sheffield and Liverpool-based Prinovis. The company also uses a roster of other companies to deal with ad hoc printing work.

She adds: "We have been happy with the customer service at Polestar and Prinovis. We have built up a strong relationship with them over the years."

When choosing printers, Mends looks for the best quality at the cheapest price. She says she is taking steps to make the catalogue more environmentally friendly paper but has found it difficult to keep adequate print clarity on 51gsm recycled paper.

She adds: "We are constantly updating our database and working on new ways to target our customers.

"We recently signed off our Christmas catalogue which is our biggest seasonal mailout – we produce five catalogues in total. We expect to release another one on 13 October. It's always busy at this time of year."

M AND M DIRECT FACTFILE

Founded 1988
Staff around 500
Based Leominster, Hertfordshire
Print buyer Cherill Mends
Print volumes 17m catalogues per annum