Brother UK at your side at 50

Kingswood Media – www.binfo.co.uk 2 It is easy to forget just how expensive printers used to be. In the early ‘90s, I won a desktop laser printer in a raffle, sold it to a local business and enjoyed a two-week holiday in Greece on the proceeds. Today, I’d be lucky to recoup enough money for a ticket to Gatwick. There are many reasons why printer prices have fallen so much over the last 20 years, not least the influence of Brother, which has enjoyed huge success in making new technology affordable and accessible to small and medium-sized businesses and healthcare and education providers. As Kingswood Media Publishing Director Neil Trim discovered when he interviewed Toshikazu ‘Terry’ Koike, Chairman of Brother Industries Ltd, this is not a new strategy for the company. Throughout its 110-year history, Brother has excelled at popularising new technologies, from sewing machines and typewriters to printers and labelling machines and now collaboration technologies and augmented reality headsets. Brother is not the only company to bring technology within reach of consumers and smaller business, so how has it continued to prosper while others have fallen by the wayside? The answer lies partly in the ‘Brother at your side’ slogan, which highlights the company’s closeness to its customers and its understanding of their requirements. These qualities give Brother an invaluable perspective on business problems that very often results in ground-breaking solutions that save time and money. Two examples from its print portfolio include its A3 inkjet all-in-ones, the first devices to bring A3 colour printing within reach of the smallest business, and its A4 MFPs, which give organisations a compact, cost-efficient alternative to more expensive departmental A3 devices for scanning and printing. Brother has won many, many awards for individual products, from Kingswood Media and other publishers. To mark its 50th year of trading in the UK, we felt it was appropriate to recognise the company’s broader contribution to technology and business life in the UK with a Lifetime Achievement award. At a time of great change, Brother’s qualities and detailed knowledge of its customer base are just as deserving of recognition as its long history of product innovation. Kingswood Media has been writing about Brother UK for more than 20 years, from the perspectives of end user customers and of resellers and other channel partners. In this time, the company has continually evolved its portfolio to help customers meet key business challenges, which today include the digitisation of business processes and the adoption of mobile and flexible working practices. Our Lifetime Achievement Award recognises the success Brother has had in meeting the needs of UK customers since 1968, when it took over the Jones Sewing Machine factory in Manchester and established a UK operation. James Goulding Group Editor, Kingswood Media Kingswood Media Publishing Director Neil Trim presents Toshikazu ‘Terry’ Koike, Chairman of Brother Industries Ltd., with the Lifetime Achievement Award The Lifetime achievement award