LONDON, 17 April, 2007 - TSO (The Stationery Office) has been acknowledged as a quality service provider by gaining the prestigious Kitemark for Print Services for its premises in Mandela Way, London.

The Kitemark for Print Services licence covers pre-press services, web offset lithographic printing, sheet fed lithographic printing, binding, digital printing, finishing and inserting operations, packing and delivery.

Using results from industry surveys the BPIF and BSI developed an objective standard that defines excellence in print production and services which was published in December 2006 as a Publicly Available Specification (PAS 75). From this and to allow print providers to demonstrate their compliance and dedication to quality, BSI Product Services launched a Kitemark scheme for Print Services. Once a printing company has been assessed and shown to meet or exceed the Kitemark scheme criteria they are awarded the Kitemark – the world’s most recognised and trusted symbol of quality. To ensure that standards are maintained Kitemark licensees are subject to continuing surveillance by BSI.

TSO was privatised from HMSO (now OPSI) in 1996 and has a 200-year inheritance of secure, no-fail delivery to HM Government and Parliament and  is the largest publisher in the UK by volume, publishing over 15,000 titles a year. In January 2007 TSO was acquired by Williams Lea, the leading global provide of Corporate Information Solutions.

“TSO’s heritage means we have an unrivalled understanding of the processes required when providing official and regulatory information. Our clients benefit from the experience and expertise, which enables us to offer them a superior quality, professional range of document and publishing services which deliver impact as well as cost-effective solutions, which can achieve increased revenues. As such the Kitemark’s values wholly reflect our own and the print services scheme allows us to demonstrate our commitment to quality” says Mike Linsdell, Head of Compliance at TSO.

Head of Kitemark Services at BSI Product Services, Ian Harper, also offers his congratulations to TSO. “It is great to see such a high-profile and well-respected organisation like TSO demonstrate its commitment to the Kitemark for Print Services scheme. I feel sure that they will immediately notice the benefit in their business and customer satisfaction.”