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The programme said that at least 169
schools affecting 70,000 students
across the UK have fallen victim to a
rip-off that has seen them massively
overcharged for IT equipment and
left with debts of up to £1.9 million.
The programme reported that while
some schools fell victim to mis-selling
companies, others just paid grossly inflated
prices for their equipment leases. The UK
schools leasing market is thought to total
some £300 million; Panorama found that
many schools have been left in financial
difficulty after signing leases that left them
paying up to 15 times the going rate for
equipment including photocopiers and
IT equipment. Clydesdale Bank told the
programme that as an act of goodwill, it
would forgive the debts of the 27 schools
which signed deals with the bank involving
two firms who have since gone bust.
Raising standards
The Nationwide Association of Photocopier
and Print Suppliers (NAPPS) who were
featured in the last issue of
Print.IT Reseller
,
has urged reputable document management
companies and channel resellers to help
raise standards in the industry by joining the
organisation and signing up to its Code of
Practice.
Commenting on the programme, Director
Aaron Warham said: “The mis-selling
of photocopiers and printers to schools
and other public sector organisations is
Panorama exposes
mis-selling
unacceptable and must be dealt with.
“Last night’s Panorama programme
reinforces the need to re-establish the
credibility and reputation of the industry
and to create a community of suppliers with
which consumers can have total peace of
mind while working with them.”
NAPPS aims to bring positive ethical
change and repair the reputation of the
industry and specifically for the benefit of
UK schools, has been working closely with
the National Association of School Business
Management (NASBM) to offer confidential
advice on how to move forward.
Bill Simmonds, Chief Executive of the
NASBM highlighted the need for schools to
choose accredited suppliers. “When seeking
new agreements, we urge schools to take
advice from as many sources as possible,
including NASBM, to safeguard themselves
from dealing with non-reputable suppliers.
“Schools should check whether suppliers
are accredited by trade associations like
NAPPS which, via its code of conduct, is
working hard to raise standards among
suppliers in the industry. This will help to
protect schools and other organisations
going forward.”
www.napps.org.uk
A Panorama programme which aired on 24 September
highlighted the aggressive mis-selling of IT equipment to schools.
25
NAPPS aims
to bring
positive
ethical
change and
repair the
reputation
of the
industry
opinion
Pixel Optimiser
technology
Preton, providers of printing cost
reduction software has been
awarded a patent for its Pixel
Optimiser technology.
Pixel Optimiser is the core technology
inside PretonSaver software. It
intelligently identifies and removes
overlapping and wasteful pixels during
the printing process and is capable of
reducing toner consumption and printing
costs by approximately 30% without
visibly impacting output quality.
The company developed the
technology during its research into
the mechanics of the printing process.
Its R&D team found that there is a
significant discrepancy between the
display of a pixel on a computer screen
and the printing of a pixel by a printer.
This discrepancy in the representation
pixels results in the significant over
usage of toner due to the printing of
unnecessary, overlapping pixels.
PretonSaver is currently being
incorporated into the service offerings
of Managed Print Service providers as a
means to control and lower their fixed
toner costs and improve pricing flexibility.
Holly Muscolino, Research Director at
IDC says: “We believe that Preton will
continue to see success globally. As the
MPS market matures, both suppliers
and their customers will be looking
for additional avenues for greater
efficiencies and cost savings. The industry
will embrace technologies such as Pixel
Optimiser as a competitive differentiator
and a way to drive up margins.”
www.preton.com
Aaron Warham, Director, NAPPS