InfoSafe set to test the market in US universities
InfoSafe, the Glasgow-based print company, has commissioned
market research on the west coast of the United States with a view to launching its patented revolutionary
exam papers into the north American university market. The company, which was launched just four years ago
as a subsidiary of TradeForms (Scotland) Ltd, currently supplies its specialist "anonymous marking" papers
to 20 universities and colleges across the UK.
Sales have since gone through the five million barrier, and managing director Tommy Connell, 28, says the
company has cornered about 10 per cent of a market reckoned to be worth over £4 million a year. If initial US
market research proves positive, the company intends to unroll its product across the US and Canada.
Connell has also carried out an initial review of the European market.
Connell, along with his father Thomas Connell, who owns TradeForms, developed the new-style exam papers
using a patented tamper-proof adhesive strip that conceals students’ personal details from examiners who,
by law, are required to mark university exam papers anonymously to prevent sexual, ethnic and age discrimination.
The papers also feature a perforated edge that allows university administrative staff easily to tear off the
cover strip to access student details after marking.
Since its launch, InfoSafe has been doubling its production output year-on-year. The company now supplies its
exam papers to universities across the UK including Manchester University, St Andrews, Napier in Edinburgh and Robert
Gordon in Aberdeen.
Connell said: "With a growing number of students and teachers raising concerns about the security and hygiene of
the old style ‘lick-and-stick’ style of exam paper, we saw a market. Understandably, many students aren’t that keen
on licking adhesive strips, especially before an exam! So we found an easier, more secure, way to de-identify papers,
and turned that solution into a business."
The security applications for their design goes far beyond exam papers. InfoSafe recently developed a security
system to protect from fraud a limited edition print run of a painting by Scottish artist Peter Howson of the former
Celtic footballer Henrik Larsson. The prints, produced by Howson for a Scottish charity, Third Step, were each allocated
a ticket containing a registration number that is covered by a removable sealing strip. Similar to a PIN allocation,
the print’s buyer peels away the protecting strip to reveal the unique number that is registered against the buyer’s name,
thus successfully preventing fraudulent prints from being produced for the black market.
This article is by David Black, Deputy Business Editor of The Scotsman.
It first appeared in The Scotsman
on 17th Feb 2005 (link)
Last update 24th May 2005 - maintained by G Barrie