ADVERTISING FEATURE: Older, wiser and embracing the future

Founded in 1851, John Watson & Company is one of the oldest printing companies in Scotland. Its 35,000ft² facility is situated north of Glasgow city centre and it is there that it produces some of the world’s best known labels for the Scottish Whisky industry.

Traditionally, this type of label has been printed using an offset press with the labels then stuck onto the Whisky bottles using a wet glue process. However, pressure sensitive labels (PSL) are gaining in popularity within the marketing departments in the Scottish Whisky industry because it is possible to print them with much more intricate designs whereas the traditional wet glue process had to deal with wiping down the label at speed and avoiding label lift or glue smears.

Robert McLachlan, Joint Managing Director at John Watson, explains how the market is changing and how that affects label production: “A few of our clients’ major brands are being redeveloped and want to move over to the self adhesive printing process so that they can revamp the label designs. This means we need to support them by investing in a press with PSL capability. We chose Gallus because we believe they have the best technology and also because we want a solid partnership, with plenty of training, technical support and back-up to help us get going from a standing start. We are confident that Gallus will look after us well.”

In December this year, John Watson & Company will take delivery of a brand new Gallus RCS 330 offset combination press. The press will not only be the first Gallus RCS 330 in the UK, but also the longest of its kind with ten units including screen printing, flexo, litho, hot foil, embossing and die cutting plus more. The 10-unit press will join the world’s longest B2 15 unit sheetfed Heidelberg press putting John Watson in the unique position of being able to supply both wet and self adhesive processes.

“Investing in the Gallus RCS 330 press means we will be able to support our customers in the spirits industry and also enables us to offer PSL capability to new customers, broadening our market offering and increasing business opportunities. In today’s market it is important to be able to offer customers as many options as possible so we need to be capable of both wet and self adhesive processes in order to be in business for tomorrow,” continues Robert McLachlan.

For over a century and a half John Watson & Company has produced some of the finest examples of labels and other print related products for a client base of blue chip companies from the Scottish Whisky industry and also food and electronics sectors as well as independent businesses. The company’s ongoing investment in leading technology coupled with outstanding service means that it should be in business for the next century and a half.