Elevate will publish and distribute around 48 million individual pieces of course work and promotional literature for ICS over the next three years using the most advanced digital data and print technology.

Sally Pulvertaft, managing director of ICS, said: "We are delighted to have signed the contract with Elevate. They're one of the most forward thinking publishing companies in Scotland and they will help us meet all the targets we have set ourselves to ensure that our students and potential students get a first class and uniquely personal service."

The specific benefits of using Elevate include: reducing the amount of stock ICS has to store; improving its response time to customers and reducing waste through the use of print-on-demand technology.

Sally added: "One of the clear benefits will be on the issue of waste. It'll mean we don't have to throw away whole sections of course material when examining authorities change the content of a course. We'll just have to alter a computer programme instead."   

Jim Rae, managing director of Elevate, said: "We've built a new software platform which automates the whole process for ICS and will allow them to focus on what course materials each student wants.  We will not only print the documents, we'll personalise each piece of material when required and translate the material, if needed.  

"The exciting thing is that we haven't yet started on how we help Sally and her team generate more students over the next three years through innovative communication channels and this will be one of the next phases we look at. The principles about what we do are around innovation and automation and in this instance managing the whole process of getting course materials to the people who need them."

Elevate is based in Sighthill in Edinburgh and bills itself as Scotland's leading creative document solutions company. It already works with a number of high profile clients in the UK and further afield including most of the major banks, property, clinical and learning businesses as well as delivering literature and communications around the world for a multitude of other companies and organisations.

Jim Rae created Elevate after leading a management buy-out of a company called Docuserve in July 2005. Since then he has led the company to a number of major document creation, production and distribution contracts throughout Europe alone.

He has plans to grow Elevate even further and has recently had its online e-commerce and ordering system translated into over 30 languages so that customers in countries like Russia, the US and Korea can be better serviced.

Sally Pulvertaft added: "I very much hope this is the beginning of our relationship with Jim and the team at Elevate. We will be looking to see how the other smart communications solutions they offer can help us to a less paper-reliant service to our students in the future."

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Copy supplied by on behalf of ICS by The BIG Partnership PR agency. For more information please contact or Charles Cameron or Bryan Garvie on 0141 333 9585 or email charles.cameron@bigpartnership.co.uk / bryan.garvie@bigpartnership.co.uk

Notes to editors:

1. ICS is one of the world's oldest and one of the UK's biggest correspondence training providers, having been set up originally in 1890 in the United States. Its headquarters are in the UK in Glasgow, where it manages around 45,000 students a year across a wide range of academic and vocational programmes. For more information about ICS visit www.icslearn.co.uk

2. Elevate's full company name is Elevate You Ltd. For more information please visit www.elevateyou.co.uk