We are increasing our substantial investment in research and development and we have new exciting products, which will be available in the near future.

We have a work force that supports our philosophy of leading by innovative design; we are aware our customers are only interested in buying the most advanced technology and our aim is to continue to deliver high quality, well engineered world leading products for the future.

We would like to take this opportunity of wishing our customers a very successful and prosperous 2000.

Two very significant awards were obtained at the end of 1999 to follow the previous "Best new Product" category award from the International Direct Mailing association's conference in the summer.

Possibly the most prestigious and appropriate endorsement of PFE's excellence was the award, published on December 14th and presented by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. This was the award to Mailprinter as a selected "Millennium Product"; this is the prestige status granted by the Design Council, endorsed by the Prime Minister to illustrate innovative and forward-thinking products created in Britain. The Design Council is the national authority on the effective use of design and all Millennium Products will automatically have the product name represented in the superb Millennium Dome at Greenwich. One of the major attractions to see in London! Mailprinter is accurately defined by the official definition of a Millennium Product:

Pioneering in its field. Forward-thinking and challenging; creative and innovative. A Millennium product makes a difference in a number of ways:

• opens up new opportunities
• challenges existing conventions
• is environmentally responsible
• demonstrates the application of new or existing technology
• solves a key problem
• shows clear user benefits

Small and stylish, the Mini 1 Plus is an advanced desktop folding and inserting machine with the ability to cope with a variety of applications quickly and efficiently. The Mini 1 Plus can handle many complex manual-mailing jobs with simplicity, freeing up valuable staff time and saving customer's money.

Encompassing many of the key features of the 2 & 3, the Mini 1 Plus makes light work of a huge range of outgoing mail - from invoices and statements to cheques and mailshots. The Mini 1 Plus is fitted with an automatic feed station, specifically designed to handle a wide range of paper and another semi-automatic feed station to allow insertion of either additional sheets, or nest reply envelopes, mailers or even thin booklets.

Fully programmable and with automatic envelope settings, the Mini 1 Plus couldn't be easier to operate. The customer simply selects a job, loads their required stationery and presses start. The Mini 1 will do the rest and at 2,000 per hour, low volume mail users are guaranteed an efficient, value for money solution to their mailing requirements. Minimailer 1 Plus is a further indication of PFE's command at each level of the mailing machine market and is surely set to continue the success of the best selling Minimailer 2 & 3 Plus.

The Automailer 5 is set to take the high volume end of the mailing market by storm, providing a value for money, cost effective solution to production mailing requirements. Automailer 5 offers total flexibility in mail processing, from a few hundred letters per day, right up to very high monthly volumes. Almost any system configuration is available from a simple 2 station machine to a highly sophisticated 16-station installation, incorporating all PFE's technical experience and at a fraction of the cost of other high volume mailing machines.

Totally PC controlled, with the option of touch screen or remote control facility, the Automailer 5 can be designed to the customer's exact requirements. The machine is operated entirely from one side and its design ensures a more smooth and controllable mailing process whilst at the same time embodying key technical features capable of performing a wide range of tasks.

Some of its key features are as follows.

• Collation of multi-page documents to the same addresses
• Outsorting of documents for special handling
• Selective insert feeding by intelligent mail coding for additional documents to be added to the prime document
• Match mailing using intelligent mail coding for adding personalised documents from different feed stations, all with electronic double detection security
• Ink mailing for post code mail sorting On-line continuous stationery feed with batching, outsort etc.

The agreement was established by PFE's Senior Sales Executive, John Murray, who recognised how Mailprinter might benefit such an organisation as the MOD. John sent an invitation to BFPO Corporate Headquarters in Mill Hill to attend Mailroom 2000 in Westminster where he demonstrated Mailprinter to them for the first time. They were impressed and immediately recognised the potential Mailprinter could offer.

Following negotiations, Mailprinter has now been installed at 3 operational sites world-wide since July - in Kosovo, the Falklands and Split, Croatia - and one has also been installed at the main BFPO in Mill Hill. Lieutenant Martin Faulkner has also confirmed a further installation for the New Year with Mailprinter being sent with a Navy Deployment in January.

This new relationship is a breakthrough in mail distribution for the MOD. The 'E-bluey' (Electronic bluey), as it is known, is a much faster alternative to the traditional 'bluey', the free Armed Forces aerogramme. Using 'E-bluey' it is now possible for relatives and friends of Armed Forces Personnel to send messages directly by E-mail or Internet, via the MOD's website run by Royal Mail, to a remote lap-top linked to Mailprinter. Mailprinter then prints it and inserts it directly into an addressed envelope, so that it can then be distributed directly and confidentially to the intended recipient.

The use of Mailprinter has reduced dramatically the time it takes for messages to reach troops stationed in the field. Whereas the previous method could take up to 6 days, by using Mailprinter, connected to Relay One, it now only takes between 12-24 hours for the message to arrive.

The potential for Mailprinter is clear and this undoubtedly is just the tip of the iceberg.