Ploughing back into the community has become big business for Port Elizabeth company Bukani Print.
For the third year running co-owners Alan Taylor and Iqbal Sain are lending their considerable printing expertise to The Herald VW Cycle Tour, which takes place in and around PE on February 5 and 6.
The festival of cycling starts with the mountain biking events at Addo on the Saturday and culminates in the 105-kilometre feature race and supporting events at Hobie Beach in the Friendly City on the Sunday.
“From our perspective, it is very important to align the company with sporting events,” said Taylor. “It appeals to a lot of people and therefore allows us to touch base broadly with our target market.”
Both Taylor and Sain are actively involved in the sport of road running, which strongly influences their shared business philosophy. “We believe any sportsman needs to put back into sport what he gets out of it.”
Bukani, formerly PEB Print, was started by Taylor’s father more than half a century ago.
“It is fitting that one of the city’s oldest printing firms plays an integral part in the country’s second oldest national cycling classic,” said race director Shane Bradfield. “Alan and his team are extremely dedicated and support the event year after year because they want to see it grow.”
Bradfield said it was important for the Eastern Cape’s most prestigious cycling event to have a professional image and that the printed materials played a key role in this.
Apart from general signage, Bukani will be sponsoring the full-colour printing of 15 000 entry forms and 500 posters as well as 5 000 race booklets.
“Although we are trying to encourage people to enter online from an administrative point of view, we understand that we still need to offer a manual entry mechanism,” said Bradfield.
Bukani has also sponsored printed materials for the Lake Farm Charity Run, the Rotary Tree of Joy and the annual Toy Run for over a decade. “We do quite a bit of printing for various charities as part of our corporate social responsibility,” said Taylor.
The company recently invested in new computer-to-plate (CTP) technology, which eliminates the need for film in the printing process. “The CTP machine puts us strongly back in the market,” said Taylor.
Cyclists can collect their entry forms for The Herald VW Cycle Tour from cycle shops in Nelson Mandela Bay or enter online at www.heraldcycletour.co.za before January 31.
Tour sponsors are: Action Cycles, Addo Elephant National Park, Boardwalk Casino & Entertainment World, Bukani Print, Gardmed, Life St George’s Hospital, Mountain Rescue Club, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Powerade, Tony’s Appliances and Beds and Town Lodge.
Issued by:
Full Stop Communications
Coetzee Gouws
082 575 7991
041 368 4992
coetzee@fullstopcom.com
www.fullstopcom.com
On behalf of:
The Herald VW Cycle Tour