Students and staff at St Andrews University will be able to print direct from mobile phones after the seat of learning signed a new printing deal with a major document firm.
Capital Document Solutions, which opened a new office in Dundee earlier this year, has been awarded a contract to provide a range of multifunctional devices, printers and support services to the university’s libraries, departments and offices.
The deal, reckoned to be worth a considerable six-figure sum, is being seen as another “significant step” for the company, which recently announced an 11% increase in turnover following a succession of public and private sector contract wins.
Capital’s managing director Tom Flockhart said his company aimed to “set the standard” in its work with the north-east Fife institution and would include wireless networking for students facing assignment deadlines.
“We are delighted to be providing our quality products and services to staff and students at one of the world’s great universities,” he said.
“We have a long track record of providing first-class services to a wide, and growing, range of clients, and we will look to continue setting the standards in our work with the University of St Andrews.
“Our document solution will enable students to print directly from hand-held devices to any of our networked copiers and printers across university locations.”
The university’s chief information officer Steve Watt said meeting the high-tech expectations of students and staff was important to the institution.
As any undergraduate knows, there’s nothing worse than a faulty printer when a deadline is careering ever closer.
“Ease of use, reliability and compatibility with a wide variety of mobile devices is key to meeting our student and staff expectations for copying and printing solutions, which in turn supports the wider learning experiences at St Andrews,” Mr Watt said.
“In the past students have experienced varying levels of reliability in terms of the equipment used and provided.
“However, through Capital’s managed solution, coupled with its level of in-house expertise and impressive track record, we feel we now have a partnership that provides the best possible service to all users within the university.”
Capital opened its new Dundee office in Exchange Street in April – adding to its established operations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Shetland – with the aim of bolstering its presence and service delivery in Tayside, where it has a fast-growing client base.
It is expected that a total of four jobs will be created there by the end of this year.
The firm won the St Andrews contract via a reshaped procurement policy developed by the Scottish Government and now applied by many public and voluntary sector organisations.
It has won more than 30% of the contracts awarded under the office equipment procurement framework introduced in 2009 and saw turnover rise year on year from £13.1m to £14.5m in 2011.
The company, which was established in 1979 and employs 160 staff throughout Scotland, says it wants to increase turnover by a further 20% in 2012.
Posted in Education Sector, Managed Print Service, Mobile Printing, Scottish Procurement
