MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM – Coutts Information Services Ltd., a leading international library supplier and book retailer, has expanded its title range and services to publishers by signing as a strategic channel partner with the print on demand company Lightning Source. The agreement gives Coutts direct ordering access to a catalogue of over 100,000 print on demand titles held at Lightning Source’s UK print on demand facility in Milton Keynes. On receipt of orders, Lightning Source will print on demand and deliver to Coutts’ Andover distribution centre. Coutts joins an expanding group of Lightning Source channel partners including Amazon, Bertrams, Blackwell’s, Cypher and Gardners. “We are delighted to join Lightning Source as a new channel partner”, says Andrew Free, Head of Client Services at Coutts. “We are an expanding, international company with a growing reputation for bookselling and library supply not only in the UK and North America but throughout the world. Print on demand has obvious benefits in widening our stock offering to our library supply and retail businesses as well as bringing significant benefits to our supply chain and costs. Lightning Source is a natural global partner for Coutts as we increase our customer base and supply strategy into Europe and North America.” David Taylor, Business Development Director at Lightning Source UK, comments: “Coutts is a natural fit for us. Their reach into the worlds of international library supply and bookselling will make our print on demand titles more accessible to more customers, with as short and efficient a supply chain as possible.” David also adds: “This is very much the future of print on demand – the broadest market penetration possible for these books on an international scale via a growing network of channel partners. As we grow this network of retailers, library suppliers, distributors and wholesalers, our print on demand proposition to publishers becomes more compelling. Why lose sales because your book is unavailable?”