MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM, MARCH 31, 2003 – Gardners Books, a leading UK wholesaler with over 15,000 customers in the UK and Europe, has joined Lightning Source UK as a channel partner for print-on-demand books. Bob Jackson, Commercial Director of Gardners Books, noted that “working directly with Lightning Source to provide distribution of their titles to our customer base is an exciting new development for both companies which will bring increased sales for booksellers and publishers alike.” Gardners joins other key companies already operating as Lightning’s channel partners in the UK including Amazon.co.uk, Bertrams and Cypher Library Supplies. “Gardners Books as a new channel partner with Lightning Source is great news for the industry and our publishing partners,” said Malcolm Allen, Managing Director, Lightning Source UK Ltd. “We have observed from our parent company in the U.S., that a strategic and selective expansion of channel partners provides benefits for the entire book supply chain. “As we increase our channel partnerships with additional wholesalers, more publishers are attracted to our services because of the increasing outlets for their books. Expanding the number of publishers in our programme means that a greater amount of books are available and more are sold. This growth is resulting in increased revenue all around for booksellers, publishers and our channel partners.” The Lightning Source distribution channel provides an efficient and cost-effective supply chain in the book industry for printing and distributing on-demand books. The success of Lightning Source and its partners – judged in terms of publisher acceptance, the steady growth of titles and on-demand book sales that have generated millions of pounds in incremental publisher revenue in 2002 is solid, strong and growing. Becoming and remaining the finest on-demand print and distribution utility in the book industry has been a cornerstone of Lightning’s international growth strategy since the UK production plant was established in August 2001. Gardners Books will be establishing a direct EDI ordering link with Lightning Source in Milton Keynes. When orders are transmitted to Lightning Source, books are printed on-demand using the latest digital print technology, with prioritized production service levels of 48 hours for paperbacks and 8-10 days for hardbacks.