A brief history of Unibind Systems:

1987: Peleman Distribution UK Ltd was set up to distribute the Unibind range of products in the UK and Ireland.

1994: The existing management team negotiated a management buy-in to wholly own the company from Peleman Distribution.

Unibind specialised in office thermal binding machines and covers, which have been redeveloped over the years and now feature as the XU range.

The XU machines come in three sizes:

XU138: The Unibind XU138 thermal binding machine is the perfect binding equipment for small home-based companies. It can bind up to 8 documents in 90 seconds and the maximum document size is 340 pages.

XU238: The Unibind XU238 book binding machine can bind up to 16 documents at once making it suitable for medium-sized businesses and schools.

XU338: The Unibind XU338 binding machine can bind up to 24 documents in 90 seconds and is suitable for large businesses, print rooms and Universities.

Designed to work in conjunction with the XU machines are the Unibind patented Steelbinding covers, ranging from a simple spine-only up to a hardcover book and they offer several customisation options.

2005: Unibind Systems launched a new and exciting product range: photobooks. Photobooks have become increasingly popular over recent years as a way of displaying and protecting all those thousands of images we have stored on our computers thanks to digital cameras. They are ideal to showcase school events and memories of teams, sports days, proms, productions and so on.

Unibind Systems brought on giants of the retail world including Tesco, Asda, Jessops, Sainsburys and Debenhams. We also have a presence with individual photographers in the wedding and social side, as well as high street ‘mini labs’, such as Snappy Snaps and Venture. Now, 80% of photobooks made in the UK are made in a Unibind cover.

2007: Unibind International became majority shareholders of the UK in line with all major distributors around the world.

2009: New brand, Yearbooks Direct, was launched in line with the launch of one of Unibind’s most ambitious and innovative product to date, the CaseMaker 750A.

The machine is a large industrial short-run variable data book maker, which allows fully-bespoke one-off books to be made affordably and quickly with an automated process of 400 books per hour.

The capability of the CaseMaker and the increasing popularity of the yearbook in the UK made the creation of a Yearbook division a natural step forward. Unlike sole yearbook companies, with the support of Unibind, our printers and our online software, our yearbook department can access the latest technology to digitally print their premium quality, bespoke, hardbook casings. Operating fully in-house also means we are able to offer a flexible full-service to suit individual requirements.

2010: Unibind Systems launched their e-commerce site and made way for various forms of marketing and PR from editorials to new media, social media and e-marketing.

2011: The Foil Xpress debuted at NorthPrint and revolutionised foiling. Using a digital printer, the machine allows for the production of variable data, bespoke books with no minimum order.

We moved to Graylands Manor near Horsham. The new offices, situated in extensive parkland, suited our fresh direction. Being customer-facing and with onsite catering, a large demonstration room and training and conference facilities, we could now invite customers to see our full automated case-making production service as well as the rest of our extensive range of products, services and machinery.

2012+: The Digital Services division is in the process of some exciting developments, which we will update you on soon.