consultancy & management

project control

We provide a turnkey solution for controlling every aspect of the book printing process, thereby eliminating the need for the customer to be involved. It’s an end-to-end service – from delivery of the text files right through to distribution of the printed books.

quality of service

Printing books is the easy part of our job. What’s equally important today is the quality of the service we provide. Here the challenge lies in ensuring we have our bestsellers in stock at all times – minimising the timescales from order to delivery through accurate capacity planning and intricate distribution schedules.

dedicated account management

We’ve earned our reputation and leadership of the book printing market by providing our customers with excellent service and by building lasting relationships. Unlike many of our competitors, when it comes to account management, we’re proactive rather than reactive.

Each of our account management teams acts as a true business partner. They don’t simply take print orders. As business partners, they share problems with clients. They constantly review what publishers are planning and propose ways of achieving better outcomes.

creative consultancy

Clays is now much more than a print company. In recent years, we’ve been building a reputation for ourselves in creative consultancy. We work closely with clients to help them resolve creative issues and maximise the visual impact of their products. We recommend alternative finishes for covers, for example, or highlight opportunities for box sets, slipcases, shrink wrapping and so forth. We advise them on what works and what doesn’t - based on many decades of experience.

value re-engineering

We are experts at taking input from publishers and making it work on sheet to achieve the best results.

materials specification

Once a customer has instructed us on what they aiming to achieve with a particular title, we assess all the options and make recommendations or alternative approaches.