Windles Closes In On An Eco-Alternative To Keeping Cards And Envelopes Together

Leading greeting card printer, Windles is putting the final touches to what it promises will be a solution for publishers and retailers wanting to offer ‘naked’ cards, but with a way of keeping the envelope secure with the card as well as the opportunity for branding.

Above: Windles’ md Bruce Podmore is a ‘Willy Wonka’ of inventions and he has worked on perfecting the Seal-Close mechanism.

Windles’ new Seal-Close mechanism uses a peelable label, made from a fully recyclable paper-based substrate that can be printed on in all colours.

This Seal-Close label will be able to be affixed mechanically to printed cards, rendering it suitable for large runs thereby offering economies of scale.

Windles has been working in close collaboration with Woodmansterne to develop Seal-Close.

Michelle Mills, Windles’ business development and marketing manager explained that “safeguarding the environment has always been a key consideration for Windles and was at the forefront of our minds when we built our new facilities here in Thame. The move to ‘naked cards’ is something that retailers and publishers are working towards, but there are concerns that the envelope and insert coming adrift from the card, as well as the loss of the ability to brand the cards would impact on sales. Our Seal-Close invention provides a solution.”

Above: Windles’ Michelle Mills (left) with Woodmansterne’s Kate Leach (right) and PG’s Jakki Brown at the recent Calies awards.

Above: Windles is launching its new Enviro-Flitter swatch of 10 colours next week.

Bruce Podmore, md and ‘Willy Wonka’ of Windles has worked on adapting its state of the art machinery to enable the Seal-Close label to be attached mechanically.

“We are now only six weeks away from going live and are just awaiting for a final machine part to arrive,” assured Michelle.

Next week sees Windles launching its latest Enviro-Flitter portfolio that offers card publishers 10 different colours of bio-degradable flitter.

“A lot more publishers are keen to move to Enviro-Flitter, especially now that there are more colour options available. In addition to the 10 different colours, we are able to offer publishers a mix of two colours enabling them to achieve stunning results,” states Michelle.

While a bio-degradable version of Crystalina iridescent flitter is not yet available, Michelle believes that a breakthrough on this front is only a few months away.