The Dexter-based company Thomson-Shore has secured an agreement to serve as the preferred U.S. manufacturer for Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., one of the largest publishers in the world.

Thomson-Shore specializes in short- to medium-run digital and offset book printing, binding and publishing services. Thomson-Shore is located at 7300 W. Joy Road.

Bloomsbury was established in 1986 and is a leading independent publishing house with offices in London, New York, Sydney, Australia and New Delhi.

Thomson-Shore CEO Kevin Spall said in a statement the company beat out much larger manufacturers to secure the agreement. Spall said the contract will add to a year in which Thomson-Shore has seen "tremendous" growth.

According to Spall, digital printing has increased 30 percent from last year, eBooks are up 180 percent and the company's specialty, hand-binding services are up 20 percent.

"The entire team has worked on creating new, innovative manufacturing processes to accommodate this growth, and has created a quality platform for future growth at Thomson-Shore," Spall said.

Bloomsbury has published well-known books such as the National Book award-winning novel, Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward and the Booker Prize novel, The Finkler Question. Bloomsbury also has published several children's books.

Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com.Reach her at katreasestafford@annarbor.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on twitter.